Erdoğan, Merkel hold a closed-door meeting in Istanbul to discuss bilateral ties

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday arrived at the Huber Mansion in Istanbul to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Merkel and Erdoğan boarded a golf cart and visited the beach area of the mansion. Standing next to the flags of Turkey and Germany, the two leaders greeted local and foreign journalists in the area.
The meeting, which was held at the Huber Mansion in Tarabya, lasted for an hour.

The two leaders have discussed bilateral ties "along with an exchange of views on the EU membership process of Turkey as well as regional and international issues," according to the officials.
Turkey plays a key role in accepting refugees. The country has already taken in around 3.7 million refugees from Syria and hundreds of thousands of migrants from other countries, such as Afghanistan.
Merkel is co-architect of the migrant pact between Turkey and the EU. As part of this, Turkey receives financial support for the Syrians in the country, among other things. The EU wants to pay Turkey another 3 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars).
Turkey could also use the money to support Afghans. Erdoğan has repeatedly emphasized that his country would not accept any further refugees, for example from Afghanistan.