Turkey: Germany is on Turkish side in refugee crisis - Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel commended Turkey for coping with the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis, despite "less" international assistance in comparison with other countries, during a joint press conference with Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul, Sunday. "It turned out that Turkey has received less international assistance before that moment for a considerable contribution in the matter of receiving refugees. Over 2 million Syrian refugees, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees – in this matter we speak about a big challenge which has been overcome by Turkey," she said. Merkel continued by saying that the huge increase in refugee flows created "a kind of migration pressure" resulting in "illegal" migration. "We can confirm from both sides [German and Turkish] that it is not our final goal and that is why we will financially contribute more actively – that has been said by European Union and Germany will make its contributions as well," she stated. "Germany is on the Turkish side," Merkel added. Merkel backed a multibillion euro refugee package for Turkey during a European Council migration summit on Thursday, stating that a total of €3 billion ($3.41 billion) was under discussion.