Volkan Bozkir told broadcaster NTV that the necessary legislative reforms to meet the EU criteria will be completed by Monday and that he expects the EU Commission to recommend the lifting of visas for Turks traveling to Europe in a report next week.
Visa liberation for Turkey comes as part of a deal which includes accepting back migrants from Europe. Turkey also earned some significant financial aid and the prospect of accelerated EU accession talks.
However, earlier today, the deputy head of the European Commission Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament that “we will not play around with those benchmarks”. Turkey has to fulfill 72 requirements to get visa-free travel for his citizens. The Commission is due to decide on Wednesday whether to recommend to member states to grant by the end of June the visa waiver scheme.
“If they want to come close to the European Union so badly let them prove that they can. The distance between us and Turkey is not decreasing it is increasing because of human rights, the media and what is happening in civil society” Timmermans added. Though, he also noted this would be a way to engage Ankara and convince it to change tack.
“The agreement with Turkey in my view is the only way forward to solve that problem” he said. “Those who criticize the agreement have never ever given me an alternative we could work with” also referring to the refugee and migrant crisis.