EU Will Not Lift Visas unless Turkey Eases Terrorism Laws

The European Union told Turkey on Friday it would not ease travel requirements for its citizens unless Ankara softens counter-terrorism laws that the bloc says are excessive.

Turkey won't accept delay in EU visa liberalization

Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday that Turkey will not accept a delay for visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) until the end of the year, Daily Sabah reported.

Refugees Bargain : Give us visa-free travel or lose migrant deal, Turkey tells EU

Ankara has said that the deal whereby Turkey stems the flow of illegal migrants to the European Union will be torn up if the bloc does not grant Turks visa-free travel in the EU.

EU says Turkey must meet all benchmarks to get visa liberalization

The European Commission on Monday reiterated that Turkey must fulfill all benchmarks in order to secure visa-free travel to the European Union (EU) for Turkish citizens.

Refugees Bargain : Merkel says not concerned over EU-Turkey refugee deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday dismissed concerns over the EU-Turkey refugee agreement, adding that Ankara might need more time to fulfill criteria for visa liberalization as part of the deal.

UK: Turkey-EU visa plan is ‘madness’, UKIP leader says

Plans to liberalize European visa conditions for 75 million Turkish nationals is “bordering on insanity”, the leader of a British anti-EU party has said.

EU approves visa-free travel for Moldovans. -Signed by EP president Martin Schulz and Greek deputy FM Dimitris Kourkoulas

The European Council and European Parliament formally added Moldova to the list of third countries whose nationals are exempt from visa requirement on April 3, making it possible for Moldovans holding a biometric passport to travel without visas in the Schengen area starting April 28.

The amendment to Regulation 539/2001 was signed by European Parliament president Martin Schulz and Greek deputy foreign minister Dimitris Kourkoulas, and marks the final step in the visa liberalisation procedure.

Commissioner Malmström welcomes Parliament vote on visa-free travel with Moldova. -European Commission

Today, the European Parliament approved a Commission proposal to abolish visa requirements for Moldovan citizens holding a biometric passport. The proposal will now be submitted to the Council and, if adopted, Moldova will be transferred to the list of third countries whose nationals are exempt from visa requirement. The transfer could take place 20 days after publication of the adopted Regulation in the EU Official Journal.

Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström said: "I am very pleased that Moldovan citizens with a biometric passport will soon be able to travel to the Schengen area for short stays without a visa.

The Moldovan authorities have worked hard towards achieving this important goal and their efforts have paid off. This is indeed good news and a tangible step towards closer association and economic integration with the EU.

Turkey and EU sign readmission agreement

Turkey and the EU have signed a readmission agreement on Monday in exchange for launching talks on visa liberalization for Turkish citizens. 
The readmission agreement with the EU necessitates the processing of illegal immigrants who enter the EU through Turkey. In return, talks will be launched on visa liberalization to allow Turkish citizens to travel to EU countries without a visa within three and a half years at the latest. 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the signing ceremony for the readmission agreement on Monday. 

Turkey to sign visa and readmission agreements with the EU on Monday

Turkey and the EU will hold the first meeting of EU Visa Liberalization Dialogue on Monday.

An agreement protocol on visa liberalization talks and the readmission agreement will also be signed at Ankara Palas on Monday.

The visa liberalization dialogue meeting will be attended by Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and EU Commissioner of Interior Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom.

Experts concerned over Turkey, EU deal on illegal immigrants. -Analysts worry the readmission deal may be very costly for Turkey.

Turkish analysts have expressed concern over the government's move to sign a key deal with the European Union (EU) to accept illegal immigrants without strong assurances in advance.

The deal, called readmission agreement, will allow the EU to repatriate the third-country nationals illegally migrating to Europe via Turkey back to Turkey.

In exchange, the EU offers a parallel track of negotiations to lift visa requirements for Turkish citizens seeking to travel to Europe.

Visa deal with EU "promising": Parliament Speaker, Cemil Cicek

"Turkish people still want EU membership despite their disappointments" Cicek said

ANKARA

Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek said on Thursday that "visa liberalization process between Turkey and European Union (EU) is promising", hoping that the "unfair practices will disappear soon."

Cicek made the opening speech of the 73th session of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting, reminding today is the 50th anniversary of "Ankara Pact"  which started the cooperation between Turkey and EU. 

Δηλώσεις για Κυπριακό του Επιτρόπου Φούλε και του Τούρκου Υπ. Εξωτερικών

Ο Επίτροπος Διεύρυνσης Στέφαν Φούλε εξέφρασε απόψε την ελπίδα ότι οι συνομιλίες για το Κυπριακό θα αρχίσουν σύντομα, ενώ δήλωση προς την ίδια κατεύθυνση έκανε και ο Τούρκος Υπουργός Εξωτερικών Αχμέτ Νταβούτογλου.

Οι τοποθετήσεις έγιναν με αφορμή την αποψινή συμφωνία ΕΕ-Τουρκίας για την επανεισδοχή στην Τουρκία λαθρομεταναστών και τη σταδιακή κατάργηση της βίζας για τους Τούρκους υπηκόους.

Συμφώνησε για επανεισδοχή μεταναστών η Τουρκία, με φόντο την άρση της βίζας

Η σχετική συμφωνία θα υπογραφεί στις 16 Δεκεμβρίου. Για ιστορική ημέρα έκανε λόγο ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Τουρκίας, Αχμέτ Νταβούτογλου . 

Τη Συμφωνία Επανεισδοχής Μεταναστών που εισέρχονται παρανόμως στην ΕΕ θα υπογράψει η Τουρκία στις 16η Δεκεμβρίου, με αντάλλαγμα την έναρξη της διαδικασίας άρσης της υποχρέωσης θεώρησης για Τούρκους πολίτες.

Η συμφωνία αυτή επετεύχθη στη συνάντηση που είχε σήμερα (Τετάρτη) στη βελγική πρωτεύουσα ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Τουρκίας Αχμέτ Νταβούτογλου με την επίτροπο για τις Εσωτερικές Υποθέσεις Σεσίλια Μάλστρεμ.

Thessaloniki: Greece’s new hot spot for Turks.-Thessaloniki is also considered an open-air museum of Byzantine art.

 Barçın Yinanç
Greece’s second largest city has of course a special place in the minds and hearts of Turks since it is the birth place of Atatürk, the Republic’s founder. Thessaloniki is also considered an open-air museum of Byzantine art.

With the rise in the last decade of a middle class in search of tourist destinations abroad yet frustrated by European Union visa regulations (the all too familiar Schengen visa), many Turkish tourists are increasingly seeking visa-free travel. Government efforts to abolish visa requirements with certain countries were emphatically appreciated as it has boosted tourism with countries like Russia, Lebanon (before the Syrian war) and Croatia (before it became an EU member). If we look at the last example, Turkish tourists’ arrivals to Croatia dropped 20 percent after the nation entered the EU last summer, despite Zagreb’s efforts to ease the process of visa attainment for Turkish nationals.

Turkey, EU close to inking readmission of migrants, visa deal.

Serkan Demirtaş
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Turkey and EU appear to be on verge of a breakthrough on visas that could see Turks traveling freely to the EU in return for the readmission of migrants


The hint was given by Stefan Füle, the EU’s commissioner for enlargement, through his Twitter account on July 9. While he was in Istanbul on his way to Tbilisi, he tweeted the following: “In Istanbul on my way to Georgia. Hope to be back here soon for launch of visa dialogue and sign of readmission agreement.”

Days before Füle’s statement, EU Minister Egemen Bağış also signaled that EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malström was expected to pay a visit to Turkey very soon to conclude nearly year-long talks that would begin a process for visa liberalization. In an interview aired on private broadcaster NTV July 6, he said: “Finalizing the visa dialogue is even more important than opening a negotiation chapter.”