The European Union agreed on Friday to release the second 3 billion euro tranche in assistance, a move which came shortly after the historic win by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the June 24 presidential and parliamentary elections.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters on Friday that "We [the EU] have agreed to allocate the second tranche for Turkey." Ankara has long accused the EU of having a sluggish attitude in delivering the aid for the nearly four million refugees within Turkey, and that the issue has been turned into a political matter against Turkey, rather than sharing its burden.

In March 2016, the EU and Turkey reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea, and improve the conditions of more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. The EU had pledged 6 billion euros in funding for the refugees, and promised to mobilize the second 3 billion euro tranche by the end of 2018.

The EU has been at odds with Turkey for some time now, including on the delivering of financial aid for refugees. Ankara also says the EU has been biased against the Turkish government and particularly against Erdoğan's presidency. However, with Erdoğan's re-election to serve in the five-year term, the tensions in relations between Ankara and Brussels are expected to ease down.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a televised interview on Friday that the EU was slow to deliver the first tranche of 3 billion euros of aid for Syrian refuges. He said that "the process has been recently accelerated."

In relation to the EU's decision regarding the second tranche of aid, Çavuşoğlu highlighted that Turkey has been reminding the EU that it needs to accelerate the process.

Çavuşoğlu also said that the second tranche of 3 billion euros will be spent for improving the conditions of Syrian refugees.

On Wednesday, Italy had raised objections to releasing the additional aid. The Italian government demanded stronger solidarity from its EU partners regarding migration.

"The European Council agrees on launching the second tranche of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey [...]," Thursday's summit conclusions said.

Turkey hosts nearly four million Syrians, more than any other country in the world. Ankara says it has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Parliament's member to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Emine Nur Günay told Daily Sabah yesterday that prior to the EU summit on June 28-29, the issue of refugees was discussed in a meeting of PACE as well.

She highlighted that in a report by PACE about the EU asylum and migration policy and the safe refugee shelter there were some unjust statements directed at Turkey.

"Turkey fulfilled all obligations regarding the March 18 deal with the EU. In my speech at the General Assembly, I repeated that Turkey has been hosting 4 million refugees, a number equal to the population of Ireland and one third of Greece's population," Günay said.

She stated that with the deal the irregular transition was substantially reduced. In 2015 nearly 270 people lost their lives in the Agean Sea while attempting to reach the Greek islands. During the six month period after the implementation of the deal the number fell to 11.

Günay stressed that criticism toward Turkey in the issue of the refugee crisis would be unjust and added that "Turkey's priority is to save lives and to meet the needs of the people."

Günay called on the member countries of the Council of Europe to take action to alleviate the suffering of the refugees rather than speaking.

"Migration cannot be prevented by closing borders and building walls," Günay said stressing the need of addressing the root causes of migration.

PACE MEMBERS ADMIRE HIGH VOTER TURNOUT IN TURKEY'S ELECTIONS, POINTS TO IT AS EXAMPLE TO EUROPE

Sunday's elections has yet again indicated that the people in Turkey have been upholding their democratic rights with a voter turnout of 86 percent. The members of PACE have praised the high voter turnout in Turkey's elections and stressed that it should be taken as an example by European countries.

PACE's third term meetings were held on June 25-29. While the issue of refugees was expected to be mainly discussed in meetings, Turkey's elections were also discussed intensely.

Emine Nur Günay also told Daily Sabah yesterday that along with the head of the Turkish delegation, Akif Çağatay Kılıç, all questions regarding the elections were answered and necessary information was provided.

Günay stressed that the 86 percent of voter turnout in elections was welcomed by the other members. "All the deputies congratulated us for that," Günay said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the presidential election on June 24 in the first round by garnering 52.6 percent of votes. The main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) presidential candidate received 30.6 percent of the votes and came in second against Erdoğan.

Günay added that David Blencathra, a British MP who followed the elections in Turkey as an observer of PACE expressed his admiration for the high voter turnout. He was quoted as saying that he saw elderly people aged nearly 90, come to vote in wheel chairs. Referring to his country, he added that if it rains the people would decide not to go to vote. Blencathra said that "this should be an example to us."

The voter turnout at the 2017 general elections in the United Kingdom was 68.7 percent. In the general elections of Germany it was 76.2 percent. On the other hand 69.35 percent of the registered voters in Italy participated in the March 4 elections for the chamber of deputies in 2018.

* Contributed by Billur Güven