Merkel confirms 3 billion euro deal with Turkey on migrants

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirmed after an EU-Turkey summit on Sunday that the European Union has offered Ankara 3 billion euros to help Syrian refugees in Turkey in return for Turkish help in stemming migrant flows. She also confirmed that the EU would open Chapter 17 of Turkey's accession negotiations with Turkey this year and would speed up visa-free travel for Turks if existing conditions are met. Merkel said a meeting she held with some other EU leaders in the hours before the Brussels summit had discussed resettling some Syrian refugees from Turkey directly to their countries but no figures had been discussed. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Richard Balmforth)