Could EU countries lift visa requirements for Turkish citizens?

Turks have been suffering a big problem for many years now, when they want to travel abroad and mainly EU countries; The problem of visa.

EU countries have been giving Turkish citizens a real hard time providing a visa to enter concerned country. Sometimes it is considered to be a kind of modern torture and it is not very unusual that a Turkish citizen is denied a visa to enter one of those countries.

Concerning this issue Turkey’s Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen BAGIS met with Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Kurkulas in Athens as a part of his contacts during his official visit to Greece,, where the two ministers held a joint press conference upon the meeting.

BAGIS stated that all of the matters between Greece and Turkey have been discussed during the meeting, referring to the Cyprus issue, the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, the mosque situation in Athens and the opening of the Halki seminary in Turkey.

BAGIS also noted that visa requirements imposed on Turkish citizens was not fair and they should be lifted as soon as possible. “A Bolivian tourist can pass, but the Turkish tourist waits in line. Athens and all other EU members need to lift visa requirements,” BAGIS added. Underlying the importance of taking bilateral steps towards the resolution of problems, BAGIS said they believed that the two countries were courageous enough to show the will.