EU to Start Visa Liberalization Process After Turkey Meets Bloc's Criteria

The European Parliament will only start the legislative process on providing EU visa-free regime for Turkish citizens when Ankara meets all related requirements of the European Union, a spokesman for EU Parliament President Martin Schulz said Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Parliament has suspended its work on granting Turkish citizens visa-free travels to the European Union, citing Ankara’s failure of meeting all the necessary criteria, the EUobserver online newspaper reported earlier in the day. 

Erdogan rejects narrowing Turkey's overbroad anti-terrorism law, jeopardizing EU visa deal. https://t.co/tPVg4EEDIY pic.twitter.com/9q2T1nvpuY

— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) 6 May 2016

​"They [political groups of the European Parliament] will not start the legislative process until all requirements are met by TR [Turkey]," Armin Machmer told RIA Novosti. 

#Turkey may have cleared most of 72 benchmarks for #EU visa-free travel, but @EU_Commission clear a big one remains pic.twitter.com/MIHk8FuxzD

— Peter Spiegel (@SpiegelPeter) 4 May 2016

​The European Commission recommended last week the European Parliament to vote on visa-free regime for Turkey once the country had met all 72 required benchmarks. A decision on the matter is expected in June.

Most of the requirements have already been fulfilled by Ankara, though five problematic criteria remain, including the revision of Turkey’s national anti-terrorism laws and freedom of the press.

On Tuesday, Ankara and Brussels postponed a high-level meeting scheduled for May 13 to discuss the issue of visa liberalization for Turkish citizens visiting the Schengen area.