ANKARA: Visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the European Union can herald a "new page" in Ankara's relations with the bloc, Turkey's foreign minister said Wednesday, after the European Commission gave conditional backing to the move.
"In addition to being a turning point for visa free travel for our citizens... this decision is a new page in the process ahead of us in relations with the European Union," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara.
He reaffirmed Turkey's longstanding goal to achieve full membership of the European Union, after several years where the process has stalled causing impatience in Ankara.
"Our goal is full membership... We are waiting for the same sincerity from the European Union," he said.
"We (Turkey and the EU) should understand that we don't need each other only in times of crisis," he added.
"Turkey and the EU needed each other yesterday, we need each other today more than yesterday and tomorrow even more than today," he added.
Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir said that he expected Turks to benefit from visa-free travel to the Schengen area of the European Union "God willing" from the targeted date of June.
Turkey must complete five more benchmarks by the end of next month to complete the EU's list of 72 -- which include biometric passports and human rights issues.
The promise of visa-free travel for Turks is a key pillar of a deal between Brussels and Ankara to reduce the flow of migrants from Turkish territory to the European Union.
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