Greek islands launch special visa program for Turkish tourists

On April 1, the Greek authorities of Rhodes Island launched a new vacation visa terminal for Turkish tourists.

Under this scheme, Turkish citizens will be able to visit ten Greek islands for stays of up to seven days, without needing to apply for full access to the Schengen area, SchengenVisaInfo reports.

According to AP News, such a move was made as a part of a diplomatic effort to reduce ongoing tensions between the two countries.

Vassilis Vayiannakis, head of the Rhodes Port Fund, told the AP that the system is ready and that Turkish tourists had shown a significant interest.

The new system is ready and there is a lot of demand from Turkish visitors. But there were no boats scheduled to arrive today [April 1]. We will have arrivals later this week.

- Vassilis Vayiannakis, head of the Rhodes Port Fund

This initiative followed an agreement signed between the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, in December last year.

As reported back then, Greece received the green light of the EU Commission for launching such a program.

Visa on Arrival Will Cost 60€

In addition to Rhodes, other Greek islands that Turkish citizens can visit with a visa on arrival include Lesvos, Limnos, Chios, Samos, Leros, Kalymnos, Kos, Symi and Kastellorizo.

These visas will be granted at the designated ports and will cost 60€, including a passport verification and fingerprinting.

Visas on arrival will be valid for stays up to seven days, one entry. Regarding this, Greek PM Mitsotakis explained last week that these visas will be granted all year round, not only during the summer season.