German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top European Union officials have inaugurated a child support center in Turkey for Syrian refugees funded by the 28-member bloc.

Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans on Saturday cut a red ribbon to open the center which is supported by the U.N. children's agency. They were joined by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his wife.

Merkel chatted with a group of a children standing in front of paintings made at the center in the city of Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, gave some of them coloring pencils and listened to a band playing instruments.

She shook hands with the young musicians and thanked them in Arabic.

The delegation is visiting the area near the Syrian border in a bid to promote a deal reached with Turkey on the return of migrants who don't qualify for asylum in Greece.