Turkey demanded on Thursday that the European Union start easing restrictions next year on Turks travelling to the European Union if it wants full co-operation to stem the flow of Syrian refugees and other migrants from its territory to Europe. As EU leaders held a summit in Brussels dominated by talk of concessions to Turkey in return for Turkish help on the migration crisis, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara would not finalise a previously drafted agreement to take back migrants rejected by the EU without progress on the visa issue.
"We will not sign the readmission agreement before steps are taken on the Schengen visa and thus a visa liberalisation is secured for Turkish citizens," he told a television interviewer, saying he wanted a deal by the first half of next year. Parallel, linked agreements on readmission and visa-free travel were made in late 2013, laying out conditions to be met, and expectations, that would take some three to four years.
As the summit got under way in Brussels, where EU leaders are considering offers to make visas easier for some Turks, French President Francois Hollande said of the Turkish demand: "Just because we want Turkey to help us by keeping back refugees, we mustn't ease restrictions unconditionally ... So there will be a proposal that will set many conditions." European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said EU negotiators made progress in new talks in Turkey. "It's moving in the right direction," said the EU chief executive, who last week in Brussels presented Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan with a draft joint "action plan" for co-operation on migration.