VISA HOTLINE PROJECT
With the “Visa Hotline Project", IKV has been focusing to the problems related to Schengen Visa encountered by Turkish citizens, especially by Turkish businessmen in particular. The project tackles the visa problem from a multidimensional approach and evaluates the political, economic, and social aspects of the readmission process.
“Visa Hotline Project” was launched on the 17th November 2009 by IKV in cooperation with TOBB and ECAS (European Citizen Action Service), a Brussels-based NGO renowned for its studies and expertise in the realm of free movement of persons. The objective of the “Visa Hotline Project” was to present the state of the art regarding the problems encountered by Turkish people in obtaining visas, documents required and procedures applied, discriminatory treatment and all other difficulties involved in this cumbersome process. This project targeted first and foremost the Turkish business world, academic circles and students and the Turkish public in general.
In the first phase of the project, which was finalized in 2010, a report regarding the unfair and discriminatory treatment against Turkish citizens was prepared both in English and in Turkish and submitted to relevant authorities both in the EU and Turkey with the hope that they will take the necessary steps to tackle this visa problem.
In the second phase of the project covering the period from 2011 to 2013, the application of the Schengen visa for Turkish citizens was discussed within the economic, legal and humanitarian aspects by experts in various meetings organized by IKV both in Turkey and in EU Member States. During this process, IKV also actively followed the decisions taken by the European Court of Justice in regard to the visa issue. In addition, various assessments written by several experts such as Prof. Dr. Rolf Guttman and Prof. Dr. Kees Groenendijk were presented to the public by IKV.
Before and following the signature of the Readmission Agreement between Turkey and the EU in December 2013 and the launch of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue for Turkish nationals, IKV examined closely the experiences of Western Balkan countries that recently went through the same process. In the following years, IKV aims to deepen further its analyses on the visa issue and continue to keep the decision makers, business community and the general public informed about the process.
The publications under the framework of “Visa Hotline Project” can be found at the IKV Library.
If you require any further information about this project, you may contact us via vize@ikv.org.tr