EU moves on granting visa-free travel to Turkish citizens

Turkey has been rushing through laws in recent days to meet the European Union requirements, although that effort has occasionally stalled because of a series of mass brawls in parliament.

But Turkey is a country in turmoil, it is in turbulence, it is in conflict, it is a frontline state for migration.

Turkey has already played its part, and the number of arrivals has fallen significantly, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels reports. "Other entry conditions for accessing the Schengen area will continue to apply, including the need to be able to prove their goal of travel and sufficient subsidence means", the statement added.

What is the Schengen agreement?

The European Commission has recommended that Turkish citizens be allowed to travel to Europe without visas on short vacations and business trips. The deal won't give Turks the right to work in Europe.

At the practical level, however, few Turks will be able to come to Europe's Schengen zone in July without a visa because the regulation is limited to those with biometric passports, which Turkey does not issue at present.

Warning there is "no free ride here", European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said that while Turkey "has made impressive progress" in recent weeks, "there is still work to be done as a matter of urgency" to reach the remaining benchmarks from the original 72.

"The EU must stick to its promise", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in televised comments on Wednesday. To go into effect, it must be approved by the European Council - representatives of the 28 EU member countries - and the European Parliament.

Germany, the bloc's main paymaster and destination for the bulk of migrants, is pushing hard for a permanent relocation system and is frustrated with the refusal of governments in the east who benefit the most from European Union subsidies to take in asylum seekers.

But qualms about Turkey's treatment of some migrants and some of its own citizens notably from the Kurdish minority, as well as President Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on the media, have fuelled resistance to concessions in the European Parliament.

A final, key issue is revision of Turkey's anti-terrorism law. I think European citizens want to stick to the Schengen regime; they want to have free travel inside.

Under the deal, Turkey is also expected to receive an extended aid package of 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in exchange for taking back and, in some cases, repatriating refugees. Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan are among those countries.

A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. It also expands the reasons for doing so to include countries that refuse to readmit migrants.

Source: EU moves on granting visa-free travel to Turkish citizens