EU rapporteur tells Dutch journalist that travel restriction to Turkey lifted

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Award winning Dutch journalist Bram Vermeulen (L) first arrived in Turkey in 2009.

A Dutch journalist, who claimed he was blacklisted and told by Turkish authorities that he would not be able to get a new press card for 2014, has told the Hürriyet Daily News that the restrictions on his travel have been removed. 

Bram Vermeulen, a Turkey correspondent for Dutch public broadcaster NOS News and the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, said he was told by European Parliament Rapporteur on Turkey Ria Oomen-Ruijten on Oct. 31 that there were no longer any restrictions on his travel to Turkey.

Oomen-Ruijten told Vermeulen that she had been told by Interior Minister Muammer Güler that there were no restrictions on his entry the country.

“I was told by Oomen-Ruijten that the interior minister said there had been a misunderstanding. Now I am trying to get the confirmation myself,” Vermeulen told the Daily News.

On Oct. 24, Vermeulen said he was told by officials that he would not be able to enter Turkey after Jan. 1, 2014 due to “security-related concerns.”

“As of February of this year, I have been told that I am blacklisted,” said Vermeulen, adding he was told at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport that his name was marked due to “security problems” and he was told he had been forbidden from entering the country six times since February.

“They took me to an office [at the airport] and said there was a security problem. An official told me Turkey was forbidden for me to enter. Then I said I had a residence permit and I have a press card and then they allowed me to enter Turkey,” he said.

Vermeulen, known for his previous work in Africa, arrived in Turkey in 2009 and won a prestigious award for two television series he made about the country.