The European Commission explained in its latest report that Turkey has not met any pending visa liberalization criteria, which means the country still needs to align its legislation with that of the European Union with regard to visa policy. visas.
Following the EU-Turkey readmission agreement, Turkey’s visa liberalization process started at the end of 2013. However, until the country meets the criteria set by the EU authorities, Turkish citizens will not be allowed to enter without a visa. to the 26 countries of the Schengen area, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com
Previously, the European Commission supported visa-free travel to the Schengen area for Turkish citizens. Nevertheless, the process still needs time to be finalized as Turkey did not meet five of the 72 benchmarks.
The other five criteria that Turkey must meet are:
- Fight corruption
- Comply with EU standards on personal data legislation
- Conclusion and operational agreement with Europol
- Providing effective judicial cooperation to EU Member States in criminal matters
- Review legislative practices on terrorism in line with EU standards
According to the latest report of findings from the European Commission which was released yesterday, October 19, the country continues to have serious shortcomings in the functioning of its democratic institutions.
In addition, the security situation has remained precarious in the border areas where recurrent terrorist acts by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party take place, which remain on the EU list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorist acts.
Serious setbacks on civil society issues also continued. Civil society has faced continued pressure and its space to operate freely has diminished, limiting its freedom of expression and association.
Regarding the fight against corruption, the Commission revealed that Turkey has remained at an early stage in its preparations and has not made significant progress.
The country has not yet set up its anti-corruption bodies and needs to improve the accountability and transparency of public institutions. Therefore, this lack of an anti-corruption strategy indicated a lack of will to fight corruption.
Moreover, in the same report, the Commission explained that Turkey’s assertive foreign policy continued to conflict with the EU’s priorities under the CFSP, mainly due to its support for military actions in Syria, Iraq and the Caucasus.
“The EU has repeatedly stressed the need for Turkey to respect the sovereign rights of EU member states, which include the conclusion of bilateral agreements and the exploration and exploitation of their natural resources in accordance with the EU acquis and international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law. of the sea,” the Commission statement reads.
In addition, it was pointed out that Turkey has failed to ensure the non-discriminatory and full implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EU-Turkey Association Agreement and the removal of obstacles related to the free movement of goods, including including restrictions on transport links with Cyprus.
Regarding the ability to take on the obligation to join, Turkey’s alignment with the EU acquis was quite limited and, according to the Commission, was “Continued on a rather ad hoc basisâ€.
Previously, the EU had allocated a financial fund of $ 149.6 million to support Syrian refugees in Turkey, which aims to cover basic needs, such as transport, rent, food, bills and medicine.
