Why a visa liberalisation roadmap for Turkey is in the EU's interest

"The time when Turkish people feel least European is when they wait in line for a visa"
Turkey's Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis

Queuing for a visa at the German consulate in Istanbul
Queuing for a visa at the German consulate in Istanbul

ESI Turkey country page

We have translated the most relevant texts from the White List Project for the Western Balkans into Turkish: Batı Balkanlar için Schengen Beyaz Liste Projesi (Mart 2012)

Turkey is the only EU candidate country without a visa-free travel regime with the EU. In February 2011, EU interior ministers refused to offer Turkey so much as a promise of a process toward visa liberalisation. This is a source of huge and legitimate frustration for Turks, officials and citizens alike.

Between 2008 and 2010, the EU conducted a successful visa liberalisation process with five Western Balkan countries, abolishing the visa requirement for all of them. Unlike Turkey, none was a negotiating EU candidate country. Today, the EU is in the midst of a visa liberalisation process with Moldova and Ukraine, neither of which has a membership perspective. For Turks, it is clear that – as citizens of a candidate state – they should have been the first to be offered a visa liberalisation process or, at the very least, treated in the same way as Serbia, Bosnia or Albania.

The Western Balkans celebrated visa liberalisation while Turkey was watching from the sideline
The Western Balkans celebrated visa liberalisation while Turkey was watching from the sideline

Turks consider the EU's stance on the issue – that the ball is in Turkey's court – as hypocritical. A series of recent court rulings in Germany and the Netherlands have found that Turkish nationals already have the right to visa-free travel to many EU member states due to commitments made by the EU as part of its association agreement with Turkey. So far, the EU and its members have hardly reacted to these rulings. Instead they have kept the visa requirement in place – all while underlining the importance of the rule of law in Turkey and in other enlargement countries.

Turks also feel deceived. In 2010 Turkey negotiated in good faith the text of a readmission agreement with the EU, which the bloc had been keen on since 2002. The negotiations were difficult, but led to a text agreed upon by both sides. Under this agreement, Turkey would commit to take back all Turkish nationals found in the EU without a visa or residence permit, as well as, after a transition period of three years, third-country nationals that have reached the EU via Turkey.

In return for concluding negotiations on this agreement, Turkey hoped to receive the promise of a visa liberalisation process from the EU. Instead, EU interior ministers offered a meaningless "dialogue on visa, mobility and migration". Turks perceived this as the diplomatic equivalent of a slap in the face.

Three quarters of all Turkish citizens living outside of Turkey live in the EU today
Three quarters of all Turkish citizens living outside of Turkey live in the EU today

Understandably, these experiences have bred concerns about EU hypocrisy and double standards. The mood of Turkish negotiators has soured and the policy of the Turkish government has hardened. There is little trust left. Since the interior ministers' meeting in February 2011 Turkey has refused to initial the readmission agreement. It has also dismissed the idea that talks about visa facilitation – promising slightly relaxed requirements for applicants – would constitute sufficient progress.

Against this background a number of questions arise. What is the best policy that the Turkish government can pursue to change the status quo? Are there legitimate grounds for concern on the part of EU interior ministers? How can concerns in some EU member states be best addressed in a manner that works for both Turkish and EU citizens?

The ESI Turkey White List Project, which is supported by the German Stiftung Mercator, aims to provide convincing answers to these questions. We believe that the current status quo and the EU visa regime for Turkish nationals serve neither the EU nor Turkey. We also believe that there are tried and tested methods for addressing the EU’s legitimate concerns without discriminating against Turkey and preventing its citizens from enjoying their legitimate right to unimpeded travel.

This website, which will grow over time, seeks to shed light on many aspects of the issue. The document "Is the EU visa requirement illegal?" discusses the legal situation and lists court rulings that have confirmed the right of Turkish citizens to visit the EU without a visa. "The stalemate over the readmission agreement" tells the story of this agreement between Turkey and the EU and looks at the value of readmission agreements in general. We scrutinise "The concerns of EU interior ministers" and look at "Turkey's role in illegal migration to the EU". The document "Seven steps to 228 votes" outlines a possible strategy for Turkey to reach the number of votes in the Justice and Home Affairs Council necessary to lift the visa requirement. We have put together "Facts and figures related to visa-free travel for Turkey" and a collection of documents from the visa liberalisation process for the Western Balkans, both in English and in Turkish. A commentary that we published in March 2012 in the EUobserver summarises it all. This builds on arguments made in a previous report on EU-Turkey relations, A very special relationship.

In March 2012 the ESI White List advisory board held a series of meetings in Ankara with Turkish officials and civil society organisations on the issue.

ESI activities:

Further reading:

 

Stiftung Mercator

ESI is grateful to the Stiftung Mercator for supporting ESI's work on a visa liberalisation process for Turkey

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