UPDATE - Turkey, UN refugee agency discuss Global Refugee Forum

Turkish deputy foreign minister visits Switzerland within framework of consular consultations between Turkey, Switzerland

ADDS MEETING BETWEEN TURKISH DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, IOM HEAD; BACKGROUND

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Tuesday met in Geneva.

"We met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, and discussed the voluntary return of Syrian refugees and the preparations for the Global Refugee Forum, which will be co-chaired by our President @RTErdogan in December," Kiran said on Twitter.

The first Global Refugee Forum, which will be held on Dec. 17-18 in Geneva, will focus on areas, including arrangements for burden and responsibility-sharing, education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure, solutions, and protection capacity.

During his two-day visit, Kiran also met Antonio Vitorino, director general of International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Kiran and Vitorino discussed cooperation between Turkey and IOM, Turkey-EU refugee deal, illegal migration, and fight against terrorism.

The EU had pledged €6 billion ($6.6 billion) aid to improve living conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, but only €2.22 billion ($2.45 billion) were disbursed as of this June, according to Turkey.

Turkey currently hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.

Kaynak:

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