Turkey To Speed Up Efforts For EU Visa Liberalization

Turkey's president published a circular Wednesday in the Official Gazette on accelerating the country's efforts to meet criteria for the process of visa liberalization dialogue with the European Union.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalled that the dialogue started simultaneously with a readmission agreement that was signed on Dec. 16, 2013.

"In order to ensure the completion of visa liberalization for our citizens, it is necessary to accelerate the efforts to meet the criteria registered in the Visa Liberalization Roadmap and to ensure the continuity of the efforts which are confirmed to have been met by the European Commission," the circular said.

It also highlighted the importance of cooperation between the institutions in this process.

In December 2013, the EU and Turkey launched the dialogue in order to eliminate the visa obligation currently imposed on Turkish citizens traveling to the Schengen area for a short-term visit.

*Contributions and writing by Sena Guler -