UPDATE - Council of Europe's delegation meets Turkish ministers

ADDS DETAILS OF CAVUSOGLU-GRANDI MEETING

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - A delegation of the Council of Europe (CoE) led by Secretary General Thorbjrn Jagland on Thursday met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the capital Ankara.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Cavusoglu said the meeting discussed the fight against terrorism and common agenda between Turkey and the CoE.

“[We] underlined the importance of Turkey’s fight against terrorist organizations, reiterated our expectations from Council of Europe and its members, and discussed Turkey-CoE common agenda at our meeting with Secretary General Jagland,” Cavusoglu said.

Earlier, the European delegation also held closed-door meetings separately with EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik and Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul.

Moreover, Cavusoglu also received UN Refugee High Commissioner Filippo Grandi at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday and discussed Turkey’s humanitarian support across the world.

Cavusoglu stated on his Twitter account that Grandi “thanked Turkey for hosting the largest number of refugees in the world” and assisting other refugees in regions, including Bangladesh and Somalia”.

“We discussed importance of responsibility sharing for the refugees,” he added.

Sources from the Foreign Ministry told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity that migrants and refugees, mainly from Syria, were the main issues of their discussion.

Turkey also shared details of its humanitarian assistance to the refugees including food, shelter, education and healthcare support with the UN official, said the sources.

They also discussed the recent developments in Syria and in the region.

Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrians, more than any other country in the world. The country has so far spent more than $30.2 billion on the well-being of this displaced population

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, according to UN figures.