The migrant deal signed between Türkiye and the European Union in 2016 is in the common interests of both sides, the 27-nation bloc's Türkiye Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said Tuesday.

The EU on Tuesday unveiled a 400-bed hospital on Türkiye's border with Syria, the scene of a new military escalation between Ankara and PKK-linked terrorist groups, mainly its Syrian branch YPG.

Meyer-Landrut attended to formally open one of the region's largest and most modern hospitals. Its location in Kilis, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Syrian border, puts it in the heart of a region that has become the temporary home of some of the millions who have fled a decade of strife in Syria.

"Türkiye has been hosting the biggest refugee population in the world for over 10 years ... and Kilis is one of the most affected provinces," Meyer-Landrut highlighted at the unveiling ceremony.

The 50-million-euro ($52-million) Kilis hospital project is one of the largest funded by the EU, which has allocated over 10 billion euros to Türkiye since 2014.

In exchange, Türkiye has agreed to find temporary housing for millions of people fleeing conflicts in Syria and the Middle East.

Türkiye now hosts over 4 million migrants and refugees, including 3.6 million from Syria.

Ankara has so far spent $40 billion on refugees, according to official figures. Ankara has frequently criticized the lack of financial and humanitarian support from the international community for refugees living in the country and has warned European countries about new possibilities of migration waves.

The EU struck a formal deal with Türkiye in 2016, where Ankara agreed to accept refugees and migrants for financial help and other promises by the EU.

The arrangement has been criticized by some human rights defenders, who question Europe's reluctance to accept people fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.

Meyer-Landrut defended the agreement, noting that it has helped cut the number of migrants and refugees reaching the EU's frontiers "dramatically."

"This is, of course, in our common Turkish and European interests," Meyer-Landrut told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In March 2016, Ankara and Brussels signed an agreement to reduce the number of migrants embarking on the dangerous Aegean Sea route and to find a solution for the influx of refugees heading to EU countries.

According to the deal, Türkiye was promised 6 billion euros ($6.77 billion) in financial aid, which was initially designed to be handed over in two stages and to be used by the Turkish government to finance projects for Syrian refugees. Visa freedom for Turkish citizens was also a perk of the agreement. Last, the customs union was to be updated.

In exchange for these promises, Türkiye took responsibility for discouraging migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving the conditions of Syrian refugees living in the country. Despite significant developments in the control of migration traffic, the EU did not deliver on its commitments stated in the deal.

The EU ambassador refrained from mentioning a new ground operation into northern Syria, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been warning to launch.

Turkish forces have been pummelling YPG/PKK terrorists on the other side of the border with artillery fire and drone strikes for much of the past month.

Two weeks ago, a Turkish soldier and seven police officers were injured by a terrorist attack on a border post some 10 kilometers south of Kilis. The latest escalation started in response to a Nov. 13 bomb blast in Istanbul, which claimed six lives.

The Turkish government blamed it on the PKK and its Syrian wing YPG. The PKK, proscribed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye and its Western allies, has been carrying out terrorist attacks against Ankara for decades.

But YPG/PKK terrorists comprise the core of the forces that Washington used to battle the Daesh terrorist group.

Western support for the YPG/PKK rankles Ankara's relations with both Washington and Brussels. Meyer-Landrut said simply that a "political solution" was needed for the entire Syria conflict that could allow migrants and refugees to return.