Turkey to EU: No Refugee Deal Without Visa-Free Travel

Turkey's EU Minister said Thursday the refugee agreement would not be implemented unless a specific date was set for visa-free access to Europe for Turkish citizens, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

    Addressing a joint press conference in Ankara prior to a meeting with Germany’s Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, Celik said the cooperation between Turkey and EU was significant in terms of handling one of the biggest refugee crises in history. "This needs to continue, but as we said before, we expect a specific date for visa liberalization. Unless a date is given for visa-free travel, we will not implement new mechanisms, such as the readmission deal," Celik said. 

    Michael Roth, for his part, pointed out the good cooperation between the EU and Turkey on the refugee issue, and the mutual agreement on a number of provisions. "Now they need to carry out this agreement step by step in cooperation," he said. 

    Signed March 18, the EU-Turkey refugee deal aims to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving the conditions of nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Source: QNA