EU 'to back' visa-free travel for Turkey

The European Commission has chose to grant Turkey "conditional approval" for visa-free travel in its Schengen area.

In a debate in the European Parliament recently, Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans suggested that the EU's refusal to engage with the Turkish Government on certain matters had been counter-productive.

Turkey meanwhile has been rushing through laws in recent days to meet the EU's requirements, although that effort has occasionally stalled because of a series of mass brawls in parliament. The EU fears that without a visa deal, Turkey will not control migration. Some terrorists have already disguised themselves as refugees and made their way through to Turkey into the EU.

What is the Schengen agreement?

The European Commission will not comment on publications and leaks with respect to the possible content of the report on visa for Turkish citizens, to be published on Wednesday in Brussels. "With this new arrangement they won't need a visa", he added.

Officials and diplomats say there is huge pressure to push visa liberalisation through, notably from Germany, which was the main destination for about a million refugees and migrants who entered the European Union previous year and would be among the first to suffer if the accord with Turkey broke down.

Under the current agreement, all "irregular migrants" arriving in Greece face being sent back to Turkey.

The EU states are now struggling to deal with a refugee influx, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In the 1990s, that was for the most part true - various Eastern European nations strove to improve in the hope of securing membership and the development subsidies that came with it. The Turkey deal shows that idea is dead.

Among these conditions were better protection for minorities, more transparent government, and greater press freedom.

The commission recommendation must be approved by a majority of European Union states in the council and by MEPs.

As of the end of April, Turkey had reportedly met less than half of the conditions required.

Turkey also has been the conduit for some 2.5 million Syrian and more than 80,000 Iraqi refugees. It praises Turkey for providing Syrians with access to jobs and schooling for their children.

Turkey looks set be granted visa-free travel into Europe's Schengen zone, despite failing to meet a number of key eligibility requirements. 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.

Source: EU 'to back' visa-free travel for Turkey