Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday praised a "better approach" from the European Union in sharing the burden of the refugee crisis, following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Istanbul.

"Unfortunately Turkey was left alone by the international community in terms of burden sharing. We are very pleased there is a better approach now. The issue of sharing going forwards is very important," said Davutoglu, hailing Merkel for "not turning a blind eye" to the issue.

He also warned that new fighting around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo risks creating "significant new waves of migration", in comments echoed by Merkel.