BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — On March, Brussels and Ankara agreed that Turkey citizens would be granted visa-free travel to the Schengen zone once it had met the 72 conditions set by the European Union, in return for taking back all undocumented migrants arriving at European shores via Turkey. Ankara has not fulfilled the five conditions that relate to data protection and anti-terror laws.
"The situation has not changed since we published our last progress report where we outlined the five remaining benchmarks that are still to be met," Bertaud told journalists.
According to Bertaud, the required reformulation of the definition of terrorism, which is a sensitive issue in Ankara, is designed to increase the effectiveness of the fight against terrorism.
"The reason we have this benchmark is because we want our partners and neighbors to fight terrorism effectively. What we are asking is that there is an element of proportionality introduced into the definition of terrorism currently under Turkish legislation," Bertaud added.
Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Ankara would withdraw from migration deal with Brussels unless the visa waiver is implemented by mid-October.
