Turkey calls for EU visa exemption, not less

A spokesperson for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday that Turkey, as a country carrying on with its EU negotiation process, did not ask for visa convenience, but wanted visa exemption.

Upon a question on visa procedures during a weekly press briefing, spokesperson Burak Ozugergin said that Turkey's institutional relations with EU got stronger with each passing day.

"We are disappointed with our citizens' problems regarding the visa issue. We do not ask for visa convenience, we want visa exemption. Turkey must have gone beyond the convenience phase long time ago," Ozugergin said.

Noting that Turkish and EU officials discussed the visa issue during their recent talks in Brussels, Ozugergin said, "We asked them what conveniences were provided for other countries and we told them we were ready to carry out the same process. However, if we still face the same problems after we complete that process, we will consider such stance as double standard".

/World Bulletin/