Ankara - Arab Today
Ankara will offer a "final" deal to the European Union on visa-free travel after Turkey’s constitutional referendum just a few days away, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. "We will make our final offer to the EU after April 16," Cavusoglu said in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.
"We will then decide how to proceed and make our decisions publicly known. We need to get visa-free travel. This is part of the latest migrant deal we signed," he added.
Later, Minister for EU Affairs Omer Celik said on Thursday Turkey will offer a new proposal to the European Union on the visa-free travel deal which has been deadlocked due to the country’s anti-terrorism law. "While legislation is being aggravated and strengthened in the face of terrorist threats across Europe, it is unrealistic to expect that Turkey should weaken its legislation," Celik told the news channel, A Haber.
He said Turkey will make an offer on the visa-free deal to the EU after Sunday’s referendum in the country, adding the Turkish government would maintain its position on the anti-terror law while it worked on alternative proposals. "Our proposal, especially on the anti-terror law, is to transfer their [EU] proposals to a commission between us and the Europe Council, while granting visa exemption to Turkey," he said.
Source: QNA