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Thursday, May 19, 2016

Turkey to miss end-June deadline for EU visa-free travel

[The European Commission headquarters is seen in Brussels, into Europe in Brussels]By Gabriela Baczynska and Paul Taylor BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is set to miss an end-June deadline to grant visa-free travel to Turkey because of a dispute over Turkish anti-terrorism law, barring an improbable sudden concession by President Tayyip Erdogan, EU officials and diplomats say. The main reward for Ankara's collaboration in choking off an influx of migrants into Europe may now come at the earliest in July but more likely not until the autumn, they say. The 28-nation bloc is dependent on Ankara to enforce a deal, criticised by rights groups, that has sharply cut the number of refugees and migrants reaching Greece, giving EU leaders breathing space after more than a million arrived last year.


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