The last meeting of the Local Schengen Cooperation Visa Information for Business World was held in Erzurum on the 26 May 2015 with the cooperation of TOBB and the Delegation of the EU in Turkey and hosted by Erzurum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ETSO).

First of all, Head of the EU Schengen Group and Second Secretary of the Embassy of Latvia in Ankara Samija Serifa,  General Consul of Germany in Ankara Stefan Delfs, Head of Consulate Department of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ankara Diane Argente-de Joode, EU Schengen Group and Border Management Officer and Representative of the EU Delegation in Turkey Jörg Dieter Köstinger, Head of Visa Department of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Istanbul Nora Jurkovicova and IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz exchanged views with ETSO Chairman Lütfü Yücelik regarding Turkey-EU Visa Liberalisation Dialogue.

ETSO Chairman Yücelik shared his thoughts regarding the visa requirements that are enforced in the EU countries and added that, since Turkey has strong trade ties with EU countries, the facilitations that would be brought to visa requirements would have a positive effect on bilateral relations and would increase trade between both parties. Furthermore, Chairman Yücelik indicated that the meeting would help in setting up a roadmap in order to solve current issues as regards to the visa obligations. Chairman Yücelik further added the following: “We sincerely hope that this roadmap would enable to make the current visa obligations imposed upon Turkish citizens more flexible whilst travelling to EU countries, especially for our businessmen”.

Afterwards, officials from the EU delegation, foreign consulates/embassies, ETSO Deputy Chairmen Şevket Demir and Hasan Akal and Honorary Consul of Germany in Erzurum Yılmaz Kuşkay attended a meeting that was held at Ataturk University Culture and Exhibition Centre.

The opening speech was delivered by ETSO Deputy Chairman Akal during which he emphasised that Turkey’s trade with EU member states constitutes an important part of the country’s total foreign trade. Akal further added the following:

“According to the foreign trade figures of TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute); in 2014, the share of EU countries within the total exports of Turkey ($157.6 billion) amounted to $68.5 billion. This represents 43.5% of our total exports. In contrast to the previous year, there has been an increase by 8.7%. Likewise, the share of EU countries in our imports ($242.1 billion) amounted to $88.7 billion. This represents 36.7% of our total imports. Taking into consideration those figures, we see that Turkey and the EU are two trade partners that are indispensable to each other”.  

ETSO Deputy Chairman Akal also indicated that the increase in bilateral relations has had a positive economic benefits and further stressed that Turkey’s objective to become a full EU member state is an important process. ETSO Deputy Chairman Akal further added the following:

“The improvement of bilateral relations and an increase in trade is only possible through an increase in mutual cooperation and visits. Nonetheless, because of the visa obligation, our businessmen cannot benefit from opportunities given by the Customs Union and this constitute an important obstacle to further develop our relations. Regardless of the reason, any visit from a Turkish citizen to EU countries is overshadowed by the visa obligation. At this juncture, we believe that the Readmission Agreement and the Visa Liberalisation is an important step towards solving the ongoing problems regarding the visa issue. We believe that visa facilitations would be effective in increasing the relations of our businessmen in EU countries and would be to the benefit of Erzurum and the region at large. We want to be kept informed regarding the latest developments regarding this issue”.

ETSO Deputy Chairman Akal completed his speech by adding, “We hope that the visa obligation will end for all segments of Turkish citizens, especially for our businessmen”.

The second speech at the opening of the meeting was delivered by Second Secretary of the Embassy of Latvia in Ankara Samija Serifa. Serifa who stated that the Latvian government clarified its visa policies by taking into consideration the proposals from the stakeholders.

The meeting further pursued with a series of presentations. General Consul of Germany in Ankara Stefan Delfs started off with a presentation entitled “Turkey’s Visa Policy from the perspective of an EU Member State”. Later, EU Schengen Group and Border Management Officer and Representative of the EU Delegation in Turkey Jörg Dieter Köstinger made a presentation entitled “Latest Situation in the Readmission Agreement and Visa Liberalisation Dialogue”. Finally, IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director Melih Özsöz gave detailed information regarding the visa issue in his presentation entitled “Visa Hotline: Turkish Citizens’ opinions regarding the Schengen Visa Implementation”.