Turkey Five Steps away from Visa Liberalization

Local Editor

Germany said Turkey is yet to implement five benchmarks determined by the European Union in order for Turkish nationals to qualify for visa-free travel to Europe.

"There are clear conditions, of which Turkey has still not fulfilled five and therefore the EU can't make a decision on the issue of visa liberalization at this point," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin on Monday.

"Turkey still has to do some work, and whether they will do this or not under the current conditions remains to be seen," Steinmeier said, apparently referring to the tensions between Ankara and the EU, and Turkey's refusal to implement at least one of the requirements, namely narrowing down its anti-terrorism laws.

Turkey is required to meet a total of 72 conditions for the visa restriction to be annulled.

In mid-July, the EU decided that Ankara had met 67 of those conditions.

In this regard, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently threatened that Turkey may back away from the refugee deal with the EU if the visa waivers are not promptly granted.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team