Turkish officials have been given instructions "from the highest level" to resolve the remaining conditions for visa-free travel to the European Union, the head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, Aivo Orav, said, according to the daily Hürriyet.
Speaking to diplomatic correspondents, Orav said six criteria, which the EU calls benchmarks, still have to be completed before Turkish citizens can travel to the Schengen area without a visa. He said officials and politicians he met in Türkiye had told him they had received such instructions, Hürriyet reported. He did not give any timeline.
The six outstanding benchmarks
Türkiye and the EU agreed a visa liberalisation roadmap with 72 criteria in 2013, and the process gained momentum under the 2016 migration deal. Ankara says it has met 66 of them. In August, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced that work had started on the last six, which he listed as changes to the anti-terrorism law, an operational cooperation agreement with Europol, implementing the Council of Europe’s GRECO anti-corruption recommendations, bringing personal data protection law in line with European standards, judicial cooperation on criminal matters with all EU member states, and full implementation of the readmission agreement for irregular migrants.
Several of these, notably the definition of terrorism in Turkish law, have been sticking points for more than a decade.
Appointments and waiting lists
Orav said visa problems came up in almost all of his meetings in Türkiye, including long waiting lists and difficulty getting appointments at consulates. He said the issue needed to be handled systematically and that member states were trying to assign more staff to their consulates.
He also pointed to a busy diplomatic calendar, saying there had been many high-level visits in both directions over the past six months, including two EU presidents visiting Türkiye within two weeks in June and July.
On the EU’s planned "Made in Europe" industrial rules, which worry Turkish exporters, Orav said there was no final legal text yet, negotiations among the 27 member states were continuing and Türkiye’s views were being listened to carefully. We covered the Industrial Accelerator Act and its possible impact on Turkish carmakers earlier this month.
What it means for travellers
For now, nothing changes: Turkish passport holders still need a Schengen visa, and the visa-free regime would only follow once the EU judges all benchmarks met and member states and the European Parliament approve it. Citizens of EU countries can already visit Türkiye without a visa for short stays. Visitors should also note the new passport-based e-Devlet requirement for social media, and the new Çerkezköy-Kapıkule high-speed line to the Bulgarian border. For paperwork when relocating, see our moving to Türkiye checklist.
Sources
- AB Büyükelçisi’nden vize serbestisi mesajı: 6 kriter için üst düzey talimat (Hürriyet)
- Türkiye, AB ile vize serbestisi için 6 kriterle ilgili çalışma başlattı (Euronews Türkçe)
Photo: Europäische Kommission – Audiovisueller Dienst, Xavier Le… / CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
