On 18 March 2016, EU leaders and Turkey agreed the EU–Turkey Statement, a political deal aimed at reducing irregular migration from Turkey to the Greek islands.
Core elements included:
- Returns of new irregular arrivals from Greece to Turkey under specific conditions
- A 1-for-1 resettlement scheme for Syrians (from Turkey to the EU)
- Additional EU funding for refugees in Turkey and steps on visa liberalisation benchmarks
Impact: the statement became a central pillar of EU external border management, and a long-running point of legal and political controversy.