On 5-6 June 2017, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Ambassador Christian Berger, visited the province of Hatay in South-eastern Turkey for two days. He met with the Governor and Mayor of Hatay and discussed  EU-Turkey relations with the higher education students at the  Mustafa Kemal University. The main aim of the visit was to hand over medical equipment purchased with the help of EU funds to the local Ministry of Health and the Public Health Institute authorities in Hatay. This equipment, purchased with the help of IOM as implementing partner, will be used for the training of Syrian doctors and nurses in a follow-up EU humanitarian project implemented together with the World Health Organization. Overall, the EU grants €300 million to the Ministry of Health under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey.

On 15 June 2017, the Head of Delegation visited the province of Antalya, where he met with the Coastguard and the Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Both implement EU-funded projects aimed at rescuing refugees at sea on one hand and at increasing youth employment and harmonization of vocational qualification standards with EU requirements on the other hand. On the occasion, two rescue boats were handed over to the Turkish Coastguard, which will be followed by four more before the end of this year.