Turkish PM Slams Refugee Policy of 'Christian Fortress Europe'

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday criticized the "ridiculously small" share of refugees the EU is accepting, labeling the continent the "Christian fortress Europe."

Turkey had taken more than two million people alone from war-torn Syria and Iraq, creating "a buffer zone between the chaos and Europe," Davutoglu wrote for Monday's edition of Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

He criticized as low the financial contribution the EU had made in support of Turkey's effort, according to excerpts pre-released in German by the conservative newspaper Sunday.

There seemed to be the "convenient reflex" to load the refugee problems on the shoulders of Turkey and to build a "Christian fortress Europe," he wrote.

Such an approach contradicted European values, and Turkey as an EU candidate nation could not imagine it had the support of majority of Europeans, wrote the prime minister.

For Europe, it was time to finally act collectively on immigration, he added, saying that Turkey was ready for a coordinated cooperation with "our European partners."