Turkish minister to EU: Lift visas or we’ll cancel key deal

“What I say is that if you do not lift the visas we will annul the Readmission Agreement; we will do it, no joking,” he said May 21, while speaking at a Turkish Business Women’s Association (TİKAD) event in Istanbul.  

The cancellation of visa requirements for Turkish citizens is as important as the readmission agreement for the EU, he said. 

The European Union argues that lifting visas would result in a flow of Turks to the bloc’s countries, Bozkır said, adding this was not relevant since Europe failed to offer jobs. 

Visa requirements offer noteworthy revenues for embassies, the minister added.

“But inshallah [God willing], this will be lifted,” he said. 

The readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey includes provisions related to both the readmission of EU member state nationals and Turkish nationals and the readmission of any other persons, including third country nationals and stateless persons, which entered into, or stayed on, the territory of either side directly arriving from the territory of the other side.