Turkey to get visa-free EU deal once 'all criteria' met

The European Commission will support Turkey’s visa-free travel to Europe once Ankara fulfills all 72 of the criteria listed in an EU framework, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said Wednesday.

Turkey to get visa-free EU deal once 'all criteria' met

According to comments made at a televised joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, Mogherini said Turkey has no reason to fear that the EU will not offer it a liberal visa policy.

“If it meets all the criteria, it will receive the recommendations of the European Commission for visa-free travel,” she said.

Juncker also said Turkey must meet all criteria, which, he added, would not be watered down to suit the country.

“If Turkey takes the necessary measures to fulfill the remaining benchmarks, the report will be accompanied by a legislative proposal for transferring Turkey to the visa-free list,” he added.

On Tuesday, Mogherini told France Inter radio that Turkish citizens will receive visa- free travel to Europe "once all the criteria are respected, as for all countries with which we negotiate free travel for a limited period.”

The EU foreign policy chief added "it was the case with Georgia, it was the case with Ukraine, it is a discussion we are having with Kosovo. There are very strict, technical criteria that must be put in place, a very severe verification must be carried out to apply this measure."

Under an EU-Turkey deal to ease the refugee crisis facing Europe, EU leaders agreed to cut visa requirements for Turkish citizens and accelerate Turkey's EU membership bid.

The deal also provides a €6 billion ($6.8 billion) aid package to help Turkey care for millions of refugees hosted in Turkey. 

Anadolu Agency

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