Turkey to hold summit with EU leaders over refugee crisis

Turkey will host a summit with European Union (EU) leaders over refugee crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Erdogan will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Istanbul on March 17 and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson may also join the meeting, Erdogan told reporters traveling with him on the plane from Brussels to Ankara after he had meetings with the EU officials.

Thousands of refugees have flocked to Turkey's northwestern border province Edirne after Turkey recently opened its borders for asylum seekers to cross to Europe.

Ankara wants to update a 2016 migrant deal that aimed to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey to the European continent.

The 2016 migrant deal envisaged update of the Customs Union agreement, visa liberalization for Turkish nationals, opening of new accession negotiation chapters and 6 billion euros (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) fund. But Ankara complains that the requirements of the deal were not met.

Erdogan added that he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to manage oil fields in northeastern Deir al-Zour in Syria.

"I made the offer to Putin that if he gives financial support, we can do the construction and through the oil obtained here, we can help the destroyed Syria get on its feet," Erdogan said.