03.08.2026 17:24
With Montenegro announcing that it will start requiring visas for Turkish citizens as of November 2026, the number of European countries that can be visited without a visa with a Turkish passport will drop to 10.
Montenegro's decision to lift the visa-free travel regime for Turkey as part of its European Union (EU) accession process has brought the countries Turkish citizens can visit without a visa back onto the agenda. Alongside Montenegro, many other European countries had taken similar steps during their EU membership processes.
MONTENEGRO'S DECISION IS PART OF THE EU ACCESSION PROCESS
The Montenegrin government had temporarily suspended the visa-free travel regime for Turkish citizens in 2026 following the events that occurred after a Montenegrin citizen was stabbed.
However, the recent decision aims to align visa policies with the EU during the accession process, rather than being based on security reasons. In this context, visa requirements are being introduced not only for Turkey but also for China and Russia.
A SIMILAR PROCESS HAS PREVIOUSLY OCCURRED IN EUROPE
Montenegro is not the first country to implement this practice. During the EU membership process, many countries, from Romania to Croatia, had also started requiring visas from Turkey.
The main reason for this was that countries like Germany and France, which form the political core of the EU, were already applying visas to Turkish citizens before the union was established. With the establishment of the European Union, the national visa policies of these countries transformed into the union's common visa policy.
On the other hand, Germany and France's requirement of visas from Turkey began in October 1980, following the September 12, 1980 military coup.
Later;
the BENELUX countries comprising Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in November 1980,
Denmark in 1981,
Ireland and the United Kingdom in 1989,
Italy in 1990,
and Spain and Portugal in 1991
began to require visas from Turkish citizens.
WHY COULDN'T TURKEY OBTAIN SCHENGEN VISA LIBERALIZATION?
Today, citizens of many countries, from Colombia to Malaysia, can travel to the Schengen area without a visa.
Turkey, on the other hand, started negotiations with the European Union in 2013 with the aim of visa liberalization. However, visa liberalization was not implemented on the grounds that Turkey had not fulfilled six of the 72 criteria it accepted, even after all these years.
WHICH COUNTRIES IN ASIA REQUIRE VISAS?
Among Turkey's neighbors in Asia, only Iraq requires visas from Turkish citizens between the ages of 15-50.
Entry to Syria is possible without a visa, but with a fee payment.
In Central Asia;
Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Mongolia
are among the countries Turkish citizens can travel to without a visa.
In contrast;
India,
China,
Pakistan,
Bangladesh
require visas from Turkish citizens.
In East Asia, on the other hand, visa-free travel is possible to Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Thailand.
JAPAN ATTRACTS THE INTEREST OF TURKISH TOURISTS
Japan has started to host more tourists from Turkey recently, also due to the depreciation of the Japanese yen and the difficulties Turkish citizens face in obtaining European and US visas.
According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization, more than 13,000 Turkish citizens visited Japan in April 2026.
This number was approximately 2,000 in April 2019 and only 300 in April 2011.
WHAT IS THE SITUATION IN AFRICA?
With Turkey's Africa initiative launched in the 2000s, commercial relations were developed with many African countries and visas were mutually lifted.
Despite this, more than half of African countries still require visas from Turkish citizens.
Most of the countries requiring visas are in the Sub-Saharan Africa, Sahel, and Central Africa regions.
SOUTH AMERICA IS THE MOST ADVANTAGEOUS CONTINENT
One of the regions that can be traveled to most easily with a Turkish passport is South America. Visa-free entry is possible to 10 of the 13 countries on the continent.
However, due to long distances and high flight costs, the number of Turkish tourists taking advantage of this opportunity remains limited.
According to data from the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), in 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of people traveling from Turkey to Latin American countries constituted approximately 0.5 percent of the total tourists going abroad.
Although this rate increased fourfold in 2023, it remained at only 2 percent of the total.
THE SITUATION IN NORTH AMERICA
In North America, the USA and Canada require visas from Turkish citizens. Entry to Mexico is possible through an electronic visa (e-visa) application.