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Turkey threatens to scrap EU refugee deal unless visa-free deadline met

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turkey-threatens-eu

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, August 2, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Turkey has once again threatened to scrap a refugee deal it has struck with the European Union (EU) unless the bloc grants visa-free entry into Europe to Turkish citizens by October.

Speaking in an interview with the German Bild newspaper, which was published on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu implied that hundreds of thousands of refugees in Turkey would be allowed into Europe if Turks were denied free-visa travel by October.

“I don’t want to talk about the worst case scenario — talks with the EU are continuing — but it’s clear that we either apply all treaties at the same time or we put them all aside,” Cavusoglu said.

“It can’t be that we implement everything that is good for the EU but that Turkey gets nothing in return,” he added.

The agreement that Turkey is threatening to scrap was signed in March. Under the deal, Turkey has committed to taking back all the asylum seekers and refugees who have used the Aegean Sea to illegally reach Greece. In return, Ankara has been promised a number of things, including the acceleration of visa liberalization talks but not visa-free travel itself — at least not yet.

Turkey has been negotiating a sub-deal to obtain that privilege for Turks.

Armenian citizens are now allowed to enter Iran without visa

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visa free borderAll Iranian border checkpoints are already informed that Armenian citizens are allowed to enter Iran without visa territory said the Iranian ambassador to Armenia Seyyed Kazem Sajjad during his meeting with Hovik Abrahamyan, Prime Armenian Minister.

Abrahamyan and Sajjad expressed confidence that the new visa-free regime between the two countries will give new impetus to tourism development.

Other issues were discussed during the meeting.

Monday, August 8, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Agreement on abolition of visas between Armenia, Iran signed in Tehran

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g-f57553f69870c6_57553f6987104.thumbIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian signed an agreement on abolishing the visa between the two states, RA Foreign Ministry reports.

To remind, the agreement, previously endorsed by the Armenian government, aims to regulate the two countries citizens’’ mutual visits. According to the draft justification the agreement stems from the necessity of fostering bilateral relations, strengthening mutually beneficial trade as well as economic ties between Armenia and Iran.

Citizens with ordinary or diplomatic passports of Armenia and Iran can stay maximum of 90 days in a given 180-day period in the territory of the other country without requirement of obtaining a visa.

Erdogan Blackmail after Blackmail of EU The Turkish parliament will block migrants agreement if no EU visa exemption

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visa-freeIstanbul, May 24, 2016 (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the European Union that the Turkish Parliament would block the legislative process under the agreement on migrant if Turkey did not obtain a visa waiver for end of June.

In the event that no result would be achieved on visas, “no decision, no law in the context of the implementation of the readmission agreement will come out of the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey,” Erdogan said during a press conference at the World humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

“A step had to be crossed on June 30 concerning visas (…) Our Foreign Minister, our Minister for European Affairs will hold talks (with the Europeans). If a result is obtained, the better. In case no result is obtained, that we apologize, “he added.

The agreement on liberalization of visa regime for Turks wishing to travel to the Schengen area by the end of June, in the heart of the broader pact on migrants, teetering since Erdogan objected to an easing of Turkish anti-terrorist law, one of the 72 conditions imposed by Brussels.

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed the need to meet all criteria before a visa exemption for Turks, saying that “the conditions are not yet fulfilled” by the deadline.

“I said clearly that the road to visa-free passing by 72 points,” stressed German Chancellor after a bilateral meeting with Mr. Erdogan. “We need the implementation of these points for granting visa exemption.”

“I told them very clearly yesterday (…) They do not leave us a new test every two days,” retorted Tuesday the head of the Turkish state.

Ankara has made this agreement a prerequisite for further implementation of the controversial pact on migrants who helped drastically reduce the flow of illegal crossings to Greece.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Europe: 80 Million Muslim Turks “VISA FREE” Exchange for 2 million Syrian rafugees

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Davutoglu standing with Passport The Western response to the draconian display of state power was more muted than ever. There was hardly any Western media coverage of the Zaman seizure. Both Washington and the EU merely issued perfunctory statements of “concern,” and breathlessly urged Ankara to respect “free speech” and “core European values.”

In recent months, Erdogan has been� locking up journalists and closing critical media outlets. Under his increasingly autocratic rule, the Ankara authorities have prosecuted thousands of citizens who have� “insulted” the president through social media.

More gravely, Erdogan has ordered a bloody wave of repression against ethnic Kurds in the country’s southeast, with disturbing reports of mass killings by Turkish troops. Turkish military have also been shelling across the border at Kurdish positions in Syria for several weeks now.

Russia Suspends Visa-Free Regime With Turkey – Lavrov

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow will suspend the visa-free regime with Turkey starting January 1, 2016.

Lavrov said during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem that Russia would suspend the visa-free regime with Turkey.

“The Russian government reached a decision to suspend the free-visa regime between Russia and the Turkish Republic. The decision will come into effect on January 1 2016,” Lavrov said at a press-conference after talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.

The Russian minister added that threats coming from Turkey were “not artificial.”

“On the contrary, these threats are very real, and we are saying this with full responsibility,” he underscored.

The move comes as Russia started to question Ankara’s commitment to the fight against terrorism following the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber on Tuesday by the Turkish Air Force over Syria.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the incident would negatively affect all aspects of relations between Moscow and Ankara and recommended Russians to refrain from visiting Turkey. Cooperation in the tourism industry between Moscow and Ankara may be stopped, the Russian Federal Tourism Agency said.

Source: sputniknews