“THE VISA ROUND TABLE MEETING IN THE MINISTRY FOR EU AFFAIRS

“The Visa Round Table Meeting" which deals with the problem of the Schengen Visa, was held in the Ministry for EU Affairs with the participation of the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, public institutions, NGOs, think tanks, academicians and jurists.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Minister Bagis indicated that the visa regime in place for Turkish citizens was “illogical, unlawful and unreasonable.” He said that they were doing their best to address the problem.

Noting that there were good news in these works, Minister Bagis said “We were pleased about the recent news from the Bremen State Parliament. On this opportunity we thanked Sukru Senkal and Mustafa Gungor, two Turkish origin parliamentarians in Bremen’s Parliament for facilitating visa applications for the relatives of immigrants. We hope that these achievements will inspire other Turkish origin parliamentarians in Europe and we expect good news from them. In all occasions we explain our counterparts how the EU visa regime for Turkish citizens was illogical and unlawful. The application of this visa regime is contrary to the human rights law and to the EU law.”

Reminding that the EU removed the visa requirement for the citizens of the countries that haven’t started the negotiations yet and for the countries that are more populated than Turkey, Bagis said “It would be unjust and irrational to say that Turkey is being treated fairly. The Schengen visa application is now farcical. People saying Turkey is a key country in its region and at the same time trying to change the key constantly is an indicator of the eclipse of reason that they are in.”

Source: AA