Tourexpi
Greece hopes visa facilitation scheme for Turkish citizens to improve intersocietal ties
Greece
hopes that the visa facilitation scheme announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos
Mitsotakis on Dec. 7 during a joint statement with visiting Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan would contribute to the improvement of the intersocietal
ties.
In
an exclusive interview with Anadolu, Greek Migration and Asylum Minister
Dimitris Kairidis, in reference to the visit, said: “It was undoubtedly a very
good day for Turkish-Greek relations after a long time. And I think we can be
much more optimistic today than we were before. Everything went very well.
Better even than expected.”
Pointing
out the role of the politicians in managing the bilateral relations, the
minister asserted: “We, politicians from both the Turkish and Greek sides, want
to solve problems, not to perpetuate, or increase them.”
More
specifically, Kairidis noted that the meeting between Mitsotakis and Erdogan,
strong leaders with a refreshed mandate in recent elections, is a profound
opportunity not to be missed when it comes to further improving the relations
between the NATO allies.
“Now
that elections are far away in both countries, 2027 for Greece and 2028 for
Türkiye, there is time to make substantial progress. I think we owe it to our
people and future generations,” he said.
Visa
facilitation scheme for Turkish citizens
According
to Kairidis, the visa facilitation scheme, for which he personally strived,
should be understood in the scope of the ongoing good spirit in bilateral
relations.
He
maintained that the scheme came despite strong skepticism from some members of
the EU, more peculiarly in Northern and Western Europe.
Reminding
that Türkiye is the only candidate member of the EU that doesn’t benefit from
the visa-free access to the Schengen Area, unlike other candidate members,
Kairidis asserted that Greece has systematically supported Türkiye’s EU
prospects and visa liberalization for Turkish citizens.
That
state of affairs has also been a problem for Greece, which wanted to attract
more Turkish visitors, the minister noted, adding that Turkish tourists are
valued by the Greek tourism sector as good spenders and family-oriented people.
“We
eventually managed to convince the European Commission about the benefits of
the scheme in bringing the Turks and Greeks together,” he said.
As
such, Kairidis added: “This is truly a win-win solution for both countries.”
How
will visa facilitation program work?
Kairidis
explained that the program will permit Turkish citizens, throughout the year,
to visit 10 Greek islands – including Lemnos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros,
Kalymnos, Kos, Rhodes, Kastelorizo – for up to seven days by having their
special type of visa issued by the Greek police upon their arrival, after their
data is checked on the Schengen visa and Europol databases, instead of going
through a cumbersome regular visa application process.
Furthermore,
he stressed that if this pilot program is successful, arguments for wider visa
facilitations for Turkish passport holders will be strong at the level of the
European Commission.
Importance
of Turkish-Greek rapprochement for region
Drawing
attention to the ongoing tensions and conflicts in the wider region, including
but not limited to the Israeli-Palestine conflict and the war in Ukraine,
Kairidis said: “The last thing the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean need
is a conflict between Greece and Türkiye, which are two very important
countries.”
“It
is in the interest of everybody, not only Greeks and Turks but our neighborhood
in general, to do our best to overcome difficulties,” the minister added.
Reaffirming
the presence of disputes between the countries, Kairidis asserted that the
Mitsotakis government is sincere in developing a peaceful co-existence with
Türkiye.
Image
Credit: © AA
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