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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Turkey meets less than half EU visa waiver terms

[Presidential Palace handout photo shows Turkish President Erdogan attending a ceremony to mark the 101st anniversary of Battle of Canakkale, as part of the WWI Gallipoli campaign, in Canakkale]By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Turkey has met fewer than half the conditions for its citizens to be granted early visa-free travel to the European Union, just 10 days before a deadline for it to meet the requirements, an EU official told lawmakers on Thursday. The EU promised last month to extend visa liberalisation to Turkey by the end of June in return for its agreement to take back all illegal migrants who cross to Greece from its shores, provided it fulfilled all the so-called benchmarks. The executive European Commission is due to report to member states and the European Parliament on May 4 whether Ankara has met the goals, and has set April 31 as a cut-off date for Turkey to pass the necessary measures.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.news.yahoo.com