Turkey has threatened to abandon an agreement to help stem migration into the European Union if it does not get EU visa freedom by October.
The agreement was made earlier this year allowing Greece to return all “irregular migrants” in exchange for visa-free travel for Turkish nationals and increasing resettlement of Syrian refugees in Turkey.
However, whilst the Turkish side of the agreement came into force on March 20th, arrangements for visa-free travel have stalled. Brussels wanted Turkey to soften its anti-terrorism law, and have since been concerned by its crackdown in Ankara after July’s failed military coup.
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told German newspaper Bild, “it can’t be that we implement everything that is good for the EU but that Turkey gets nothing in return.”
He continued, “talks with the EU are continuing but it’s clear that we either apply all treaties at the same time or we put them all aside.”