Turkish officials pass all 72 benchmarks requested by EU on granting visa-free travel
| FILE Photo


Turkish officials passed late Tuesday the 72 conditions Turkey must meet to qualify for visa-free travel to EU countries.

The European Commission will report on Wednesday whether Turkey has met all the conditions. All EU member states and European Parliament have to approve the plan.The visa liberalization will be implemented for Turkish citizens by the end of June along with accelerating the opening of new chapters in Turkey's EU accession process and 3 billion euros of financial aid to Ankara to spend on Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Under the EU-Turkey deal, Turkey is readmitting all migrants and refugees, including Syrians, who enter Greece illegally from the country in return for the EU taking in Syrian refugees directly from Turkey on a one-to-one basis.