Austrian Chancellor urges to stop funding Turkey if migration deal with EU fails

The Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern urged to cease financing Turkey in case the agreement between the European Union and Turkey on hosting migrants fails, local media reported late Saturday.

Kern also reportedly stressed that the Turkish government was deliberately seeking to escalate the situation that was already tense after the recent dramatic events in the country, including the arrest of the opposition lawmakers.

"No migration deal, no money," Kern said in an interview to Krone newspaper. Kern added that appeasing Turkey had not produced any results so far, according to the newspaper. 

The European Union has expressed disapproval of Ankara's crackdown on the Turkish citizens who are suspected of being linked to the July foiled coup in the country. 

In March, the European Union and Ankara agreed on a deal, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime.

Source: MENA