Under the cooperation of TESEV and Black Sea Technical University, a conference was held on “the future of the relationship between the EU and Turkey and recent developments in the Middle East” on the 28th April 2014. At the conference, IKV Deputy Secretary General and Research Director Melih Özsöz gave a presentation about the progress made in the visa application process for Turkish citizens after the Readmission Agreement was signed between the EU and Turkey in December 2014. Özsöz spoke during a panel entitled “The relationship between the EU and Turkey under the mutual and regional dynamics” along with Prof. Dr. Mensür Akgün from the Foreign Policy Program of TESEV and Dr. Yıldırım Turan from the Center of Middle Eastern Studies at University of Sakarya.

IKV Deputy Secretary General Melih Özsöz first presented the historical development of visa process experienced by Turkish citizens since 1980s and then tackled the legal, political, economic and commercial dimensions of the visa problem. Within this framework, he shared some of the striking examples withdrawn from the “Visa Hotline Project” conducted by IKV, TOBB and ECAS (European Citizens Action Service) between the years of 2008 and 2010. He also mentioned examples of legal cases and decisions taken by the European Court of Justice. The results indicate that in 27 years the Court has made 55 decisions regarding free travel for Turkish citizens and each decision confirms the rights gained by the previous ones. The aftermath of the Soysal v. Court of Justice of the European Union, which the court reached its verdict on 2009, signaled positive steps towards to the visa-free travel for Turkish citizens. However Özsöz pointed out that the decision reached by the same court for the Demirkan Case has shifted this optimism to a more pessimist atmosphere. Özsöz emphasized the importance of continuing legal battles regardless of all the latest developments and stressed that the legal gains obtained by Turkish citizens regarding the visa-free entrance to EU territory should not be forgotten. He further stated that the signature of the Readmission Agreement in December 2013 along with the launch of the visa liberalization dialogue indicates that the EU and Turkey has entered a new phase in the visa process.

Lastly, Özsöz gave more technical information in regard to this new phase. Within this context, he explained that the process which brought visa liberalization to five Western Balkan (Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina) countries in the years of 2009 and 2010 should be well and correctly analyzed. Comparing the road map of Turkey with that of the five countries, Özsöz stated that Turkey’s road map was more detailed than the previous ones. Özsöz. In this respect, Özsöz stated that the European Union should show the same openness, sincerity and transparency to Turkey as it did with the Balkan countries. In addition, Turkey seems to receive more detailed and concrete criteria than Balkan nations. Özsöz emphasized the steps that Turkey has to take under the Readmission Agreement, which took 10 years of negotiations. IKV Deputy Secretary General Özsöz also concluded by stressing that this visa liberalization process should not be seen as closed ended process, and it should be carried out in a parallel with Turkey’s EU accession negotiations.