Turkey has right to cancel readmission deal if visa-free travel to EU not granted


Turkey's EU minister Volkan Bozkır on Sunday warned that Turkey has the right to cancel the readmission agreement if the EU does not grant visa-free travel for Turkish citizens as pledged.

Speaking on CNN Türk, Volkan Bozkır said that Turkey has currently fulfılled 40 of 72 articles required to be granted the visa-free travel, and added that all 72 conditions will be met by the end of April.

The readmission agreement was signed in 2013 and went into effect in 2014.

When the deal between Turkey and the EU is implemented, the EU will have the ability to return illegal migrants - who traveled through Turkey - to Turkey in order to be processed before they are sent back to their country of origin. Citizens of Iraq and Syria, which make up the majority of illegal migration, are not part of the deal.A new agreement signed in November shortened the transition time, and will allow Turkish citizens to enter the Schengen area without a visa.The Schengen area is a 26-nation region in Europe where passports are not needed.