A roadmap is to be drawn that foresees the removal of visas for Turks wanting to travel to the EU, the European Parliament announced in a session that focused on the bloc’s visa requirements for Turkish nationals, a first-time development since Turkey took up accession negotiations almost a decade ago.
Turkey’s EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış attended the Wednesday session of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, during which EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said visa requirements for Turkey would be removed completely, and in the meantime, the process for visas would be eased for Turkish nationals.
“For the first time I can see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the visa issue,” Bağış was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency on Wednesday, as he regarded the development a step toward ending discrimination against Turkey. “All we ask for is to be treated equally to other candidate countries,” Bağış said.
Malmstrom noted that the process would take time, and that the EU and Turkey “are about to embark on a journey.” “And to begin with we will ease visa procedures,” she said as she spoke at the first high-level meeting between Turkey and the union. Turkey expects the meeting to be followed by others, which will eventually lead to the complete removal of visas for the candidate country.
As a first step to easing the visa process for Turks, which is planned to be implemented in the fall, EU member countries will issue longer term visas with multiple entries and in a much shorter timeframe. Less paperwork and indefinite visas, particularly for businesspeople, are also among the measures that will make the visa process less painful for Turks wishing to travel to EU countries.
Members of Parliament also raised questions over the easing of visa procedures, saying Turkey’s location might endanger EU members, since it borders an area where many illegal immigrants enter from, and also repeated a familiar concern that a wave of migration from Turkey might hit the EU. Bağış responded to the concerns, saying that a reverse migration was currently under way, and “as a matter of fact, nearly 30,000 Turks have returned home within the past few years.”
Bağış also noted that Turkey was the only country that did not benefit from visa exemptions in its pre-accession period out of the other negotiating countries, and that Turkey was waiting for justice to be done by being treated equally. The minister highlighted that Turkey was Europe’s sixth and the world’s 15th fastest growing economy, and that applying visa restrictions to Turkey even defied court rulings of EU countries.
“The European Court of Justice and many other courts in Europe say visas cannot be applied to Turkey. The visa procedure defies the law,” Bağış was quoted as saying by Anatolia.
via EU to ease visa for Turkey, complete removal to follow.
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