Ankara slams EU visa policy for Turkey as ‘unfair’

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has described the European Union visa policy for Turkey as “unfair” and said the 27-member bloc's precondition for starting visa facilitation talks with the candidate country is “not understandable.”

According to Today's Zaman, a Foreign Ministry statement welcomed some parts of the conclusions of EU General Affairs Council on enlargement on Wednesday, Dec 12, and lashed out at the EU for treating Turkey differently from other candidate countries in its visa policy.

Ankara said its principal expectation from Brussels is a visa exemption deal to Turkish nationals entering the EU countries. It added that the only candidate country whose citizens do not enjoy visa-free travel to the EU is Turkey.

“We hope that the EU takes the necessary steps to remedy this unfair situation without further delay,” the statement stressed.

Turkey, a candidate to join the EU, says its nationals must be able to travel to EU countries without first obtaining a visa. The EU has insisted on a series of preconditions, including Turkey's introduction of biometric passports in line with EU standards and the signing of a readmission deal, taking into consideration that Turkey has become a major transit point for illegal immigrants from Asia and the Middle East trying to reach EU countries.

The Foreign Ministry said in the statement that the “road map” on these issues which will be delivered to Turkey by the EU will be studied in the context of the need to instate visa-free travel.