First step towards visa-free EU on December 16

Turkey finally agreed on readmission agreement which will be the first step of the process to open the visa-free gates of EU to Turkish citizens. The agreement is going to be signed on December 16 in Ankara.

Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu held a joint press conference with Cecilia Malmstrom, European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Stefan Fule, European Commissioner responsible for EU Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy. Davutoglu said that the compromise is a result of decisive efforts of Turkey within a process working parallel between readmission agreement and the visa liberalization for Turkish citizens to travel to the EU countries.

The readmission agreement envisages the return of the citizens of the non-member countries who travelled to Europe illegally. The agreement will be signed on December 16 and, in parallel, the process of visa liberalization for Turkish citizenswill start.

Malmstrom, who had a significant contribution in the process, said that visa liberalization will contribute to the interaction between people and will be beneficial both for EU and Turkish citizens.

“It is too early to talk about an exact date for visa liberalization but we should wait for the process to work, nobody has any cause to stop or block the process,” said Malmstrom.

Stating that the readmission agreement and visa dialogue would give a momentum to the sustainable relations between Turkey and the EU, Fule said “It will particularly contribute to the membership negotiations.”

Upon a question asking whether the Cyprus issue will affect the process or not, Fule said that the compromise is a result of consensus among the members but it is difficult to make speculations on next three years.

AA