Turkey still needs to do more on visa deal: EU
The European Union said Wednesday that the Turkish government “still needs” to do more to win visa-free travel to Europe for its citizens as part of a refugee deal the two sides reached in March.
“On visa liberalization, Turkey still needs to fulfill the remaining benchmarks of the roadmap so that visa requirements for Turkey citizens can be lifted soon,” said EU’s Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Avramopoulos made the remarks as he was unveiling the latest report by the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, on the progress of the refugee deal between Turkey and the EU.
Based on the deal, all refugees landing on the coasts of Greece are sent back to Turkey. Ankara in return is to receive billions of dollars in aid and see its long-stalled accession talks for EU membership revived and accelerated. Turks were also supposed to enjoy free travel to Europe based on the accord, but the EU Commission said last month that delivering on those privileges should be tied to Ankara’s efforts in changing its inclusive anti-terror law.
Avramopoulos said 65 of the 72 benchmarks laid down by the EU have been fulfilled by Turkey, hailing the progress as “spectacular.”
“We are moving ahead … our people work together with the Turkish authorities to accomplish this goal,” he said, adding, “Turkey has committed to meeting the rest of the benchmarks to allow for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and we expect them to come to this commitment.”
Officials in Turkey also admitted that the completion of the visa deal could not come by the July 1 deadline.
A senior Turkish official told reporters just ahead of the commission report's publication that “There are some problems today, there are some ups and downs.” Turkey's Europe minister also said that there are no chances for the deal to come to force by the awaited date.
Turkey earlier warned that it could scrap the entire refugee deal in case the EU does not fulfill its obligation regarding the visas. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that the visa exemption must be introduced by October at the latest.
The EU has invested high on Turkey to curb an unprecedented flow of refugees into the continent. More than a million made it into Europe last year, creating the worst refugee crisis for the European states since World War II.
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