Lajcak, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, is hosting his 27 fellow ministers in Bratislava, where they will also meet Turkish EU minister Omer Celik on Saturday. The bloc is seeking to retain Turkish co-operation in slowing a flow of refugees from war zones including Syria into EU states. "Turkey is an important partner, we need to clarify what it is that what we want from Turkey and with Turkey and then I expect that after tomorrow's meeting we will help to improve, normalize the atmosphere between the EU and Turkey." Some in the EU were skeptical and believed Ankara was using the failed coup as a pretext to go after Erdogan critics. In Brussels, a senior EU official said many have grown to believe the situation in Turkey would be way worse had the coup succeeded.

Source: bd News24 September 02, 2016 12:00 UTC