Turkey, Russia talk passport-free travel to Turkey: FM Çavuşoğlu
ANTALYA
Turkey and Russia have launched talks to allow Russian nationals to travel to Turkey without a passport, Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said on March 25, noting that an earlier postponed joint strategic planning group meeting will be held on March 29.
“We’ve started meetings in order to pave the way for the Russian citizens to come to our country [only] with their ID cards, without a passport,” he told Anadolu Agency. In February, Russia’s president signed a decree to lift visa requirements for Turkish service passport holders and truck drivers traveling to Russia.
The new rules are also valid for Turkish citizens with special passports on short-term business trips, including those to diplomatic missions and consular offices, as well as professional drivers transporting international cargo.
Çavuşoğlu added that his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov will travel to the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on March 28 in order to attend the preparatory meeting for the High-Level Cooperation Council meeting which will be held in April and attended by government leaders.
The Turkish delegation will travel to Moscow on April 8, said the minister.
After the talks in Antalya the Turkish and Russian foreign ministries will sign the 2019-2020 Plan for Consultations.
“A detailed exchange of opinions on all issues on the bilateral agenda is planned in the context of preparations for the next meeting of the leaders of the two countries and the upcoming meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier, adding that foreign policy issues such as the Syrian and Ukrainian crises will also be discussed.
