IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu reacted to the latest developments with respect to the visa liberalisation process between Turkey and the EU. Indeed, a decision was taken regarding the possibility of extending green passports to goods exporters with above 1 million dollars of export in the last 3 years. In that respect, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that it would be beneficial for exporters to be granted such an advantage:

“We welcome the decision to grant green passports to exporters. Practically, this will facilitate their entry into major export markets such as the Schengen area”.

 “Visa-free access to the Schengen Area should be the basis for all Turkish citizens”

IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu also referred to the possibility of lifting visa requirements to the EU for short term journeys, reminding that half of Turkey’s exports are precisely realised towards that region. He underscored the critical importance of successfully completing the visa liberalisation dialogue with the EU, noting that the overarching objective is visa-free access to Europe for all Turkish citizens:

“As a country which is candidate state to EU membership and which has a Customs Union with the EU, it is unacceptable that we are yet still faced by the visa obstacle whilst visiting EU countries. It is of utmost importance to remind that Turkey has completed significant progress in that respect within the framework of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue with the EU which had been launched in 2013. Indeed, Turkey has already taken decisive steps and completed 65 out of the 72 criteria in that respect. Nonetheless, because of the current stalemate in trying to get a solution in the remaining criteria, the process has slowed down and the objective of visa-free access to the EU which we had hoped would be achieved last October was unfortunately not materialised. We are calling upon EU institutions to take the necessary steps within that framework without delay. However, we would like to take here this opportunity to remind that this may only be possible through a fruitful dialogue and with the resumption and acceleration of negotiations between the two parties”.

 “IKV will continue to follow the evolution of the objective of visa-free Europe”

Indicating that IKV is a civil society organisation which had realised initiatives since the early 1980s when Germany was the first country to impose visa requirements upon Turkish citizens, Zeytinoğlu highlighted the unfairness of the visa requirements and underscored the importance of lifting such a requirement from the perspective of relations with the EU:

“In a period where visa liberalisation is to be granted to countries such as Georgia and the Ukraine, we would like to take this opportunity to express our profound dissatisfaction with the continuation of the visa requirements upon Turkish citizens which we claim to be unfair. Indeed, more than ever, I do believe that both Turkey and the EU need a new success story which could be realised with the successful completion of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue. At this juncture, it is of utmost importance to stress that the launch of the Turkey-EU Visa Liberalisation Dialogue represented a significant opportunity in order to enhance communication and cooperation between the parties in that particular area. Despite notable successes in terms of reforms, of the signature of the Readmission Agreement and cooperation with respect to the refugee crisis, unless this process is completed with visa liberalisation, one can say that it would unfortunately be insufficient”.

 “Visa requirement imposed upon Turkish citizens continues to create economic, political and human problems”

“The latest figures revealed by the European Commission revealed that 900,789 applications for a Schengen visa were realised by Turkish citizens in 2015. Therefore, in the best scenario, it can be said that as a result of the Schengen visa requirement, there is an annual financial cost of above 54 million euros for Turkish citizens. In contrast, one should remind that the EU provided a budget between 1 and 8 million euros to 27 humanitarian assistance projects within the framework of cooperation between the parties with respect to the refugee crisis. In light of the amount of money spent for the Schengen visa by Turkish citizens; we can see that these funds are wasted as a result of an unfair measure such as visa regardless of the financial assistance granted to such humanitarian projects. Moreover, one can see that the visa requirement continues to create economic, political and human problems on a large scale”.

 “The visa conundrum can only be solved through constructive political on both sides”  

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also indicated that as a result of difficulties in the political environment, the visa liberalisation dialogue has slowed down and called upon a new discourse promoting cooperation between the parties:

“Undoubtedly, the fact that the process has slowed down is linked to deterioration in the general political conjuncture. I do believe that thanks to renewed constructive political will on both sides and by favouring a spirit of cooperation, it would be possible to achieve concrete steps in solving the visa conundrum. However, in order to achieve this, it is critical for both parties to change the discourse. As such, it is important that the EU leaves a rather patronising approach and acts within the framework of modern techniques of negotiations by taking into consideration the societal sensitivities of the other side. As for the Turkish side, it should leave the current climate of reform fatigue and renew a new period of intense reforms with new steps towards meeting the goal of visa liberalisation”.

Ayhan ZEYTİNOĞLU
IKV Chairman