MINISTER FOR EU AFFAIRS AND CHIEF NEGOTIATOR VOLKAN BOZKIR:

“VISA REQUIREMENTS TO TURKISH CITIZENS WILL BE REMOVED WITHIN TWO AND A HALF YEARS”

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır gave a speech at IKV’s 50^th anniversary ceremony on the 9^th May 2015. Reminding that in 2003 the European Court of Justice ruled in a decision that the European Parliament’s decision on the 1915 events was not legally binding, Minister Bozkır underlined the following: “If such decisions of disturbing nature for Turkey continue to be issued, this will help neither Turkey-EU relations nor the European Parliament itself".

“TURKEY’S AIM IS TO INCREASE ITS TRADE VOLUME TO 300 BILLION DOLLARS THROUGH THE CUSTOMS UNION”

Underlining the importance of the Customs Union for Turkey-EU relations, Minister Bozkır mentioned the decision to update the Customs Union in January 2016 to include agriculture, services and public procurement which would help increase Turkey’s trade volume with the EU from 150 billion dollars to 300 billion dollars. Minister Bozkır also explained the following: “In the agreement reached 20 years ago, there are certain factors that might have been omitted or not yet realized. Indeed, in the event of the signature of a trade agreement by the EU with third countries, the agreement is not applied to Turkey automatically. We therefore hope to overcome this problem with the introduction of an article which will also for instance be applied in the case of TTIP which is to be signed between the EU and the US”.

“VISA REQUIREMENTS TOWARDS TURKISH CITIZENS WILL BE REMOVED WITHIN TWO AND A HALF YEARS”

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Bozkır explained the problems encountered in regards to visa requirements applied towards Turkish citizens which, in fact, stems from the 1980 military intervention in Turkey. Underlining Turkey’s effort to remove the obstacles on visa-free travel to Turkish citizens, Minister Bozkır mentioned that the process is proceeding within the framework of an agreement. He further stated the following: “Visa requirements towards Turkish citizens will be removed within two and half years. If this does not happen, Turkey will suspend the Readmission Agreement that it has signed with the EU”.