The European Union Commission intends to support visa-free travel to 26 Schengen countries for holders of Turkish biometric passports, Commission sources told the BBC.
Although the BBC does not provide any details on the matter, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported on September 30 that the issue of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens will be raised again in October when Turkish and EU officials meet.
According to Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey Faruk Kaymakci, in addition to the liberalization of the visa regime, the parties will also discuss issues of migration, internal affairs and security.
The process of providing Turkish citizens with the possibility of visa-free entry to the Schengen countries began at the end of 2013 after the signing of a readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey. The process is not yet complete as Turkey has not met five of the 72 criteria listed in the visa liberalization roadmap.
At the moment, the following five criteria remain unfulfilled:
- fight against corruption
- compliance with legislation on the protection of personal data in accordance with EU standards
- conclusion of an operational cooperation agreement with Europol
- offering effective judicial cooperation to member states in criminal matters
- revision of anti-terrorism legislation and practice in line with EU standards.
In March 2016, the heads of the EU countries and Turkey reached an agreement to end illegal migration from Turkey to Greece, which stipulated that Turkey would accept migrants who left its territory back to Greece.
As part of the agreement, the EU promised Turkey to accelerate the visa liberalization process “in order to abolish visa requirements for Turkish citizens no later than the end of June 2016.”
So far this has not happened, and the EU is often accused of not fulfilling its part of the agreement. Just this week, Greek politician Notis Mitarachi commented on the issue, urging the EU to keep its word.
“The EU has also made promises to Turkey regarding visa and trade liberalization, and it must fulfill these obligations. And we expect Turkey to fulfill what we agreed on,” Mitarachi told the German newspaper Die Welt.
In addition to the issue of visa liberalization, the Turkish authorities also accuse the EU of not providing Turkey with 6 billion euros (7 billion dollars) of assistance to resolve the migration situation, which was also part of the agreement.