Türkiye ‘comes to terms’ with four countries on visa-related problems
Gonca Şenay - ANKARA
The Schengen visa-related problems for Turkish citizens, which has recently turned into an ordeal, have been largely resolved with Spain, Italy, France and England thanks to the efforts made through the ambassadors, while the question with Germany still continue.
Türkiye has been critical towards the EU member states that Turkish citizens, such as students and businesspeople, face serious problems with the duration of their Schengen visa applications during their trips to European countries. The missions have been considerably prolonging the visa appointment dates and making the process more difficult by demanding excessive amounts of documentation.
Following intense contacts with the ambassadors, the problems with Spain, Italy, France and England were resolved to a large extent, as the time to get an appointment for an English visa was reduced to a few days and the time for the applications to be finalized to three weeks.
However, problems with Germany still continue, though it is the country where Turks apply for visas the most for various reasons.
The last example that caused controversy was that the orchestra team of the artist Özcan Deniz, who was preparing to take the stage in Berlin, did not receive any response to the application they made six weeks ago. The concert has now been postponed to 2023.
Turkish officials also state that the process of obtaining a visa appointment from the U.S. can be shorter from time to time, but they still find it long.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu earlier said the Western nations, mostly the European Union countries and the United States, deliberately complicate and prolong the visa procedures for Turkish nationals.
The minister said the envoys of these states would be summoned and urged. “We will summon the ambassadors of the Western countries and make necessary requests. If they don’t correct this, then we will take counter measures,” he said in August without detailing what actions can be taken.
Turks’ visa-related problems were on Oct. 11’s agenda of the General Assembly of The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Seeking visa facilitation to EU member states, Ankara aims to ensure that visa decisions are taken to the judiciary, and the Schengen Information System is standardized for all countries.
