THE VISA BARRIER: AN OBSTACLE TO OVERCOME BETWEEN TÜRKİYE AND THE EU

At a time of heightened uncertainty, an urgent solution, at least on visa facilitation, with Europe, with which Türkiye has historically close but volatile economic and security relations, has become an inevitable strategic necessity for both sides

On July 9, 1980, the Federal Republic of Germany officially notified the Council of Europe that it was suspending the 1957 Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between the member states of the Council of Europe due to the extraordinary increase in the number of Turks entering through its borders and their requests for asylum. It announced that it would reassess the situation after three years. France took a similar step the same year and reintroduced the visa regime, followed by other European countries Finally, the process was institutionalized in 2001 when Türkiye was included among the third countries subject to visa requirements.

The visa application, which was initiated in the 1980s on the grounds of security threats, was further solidified with global security concerns after 9/11, and in the 2000s it was mainly associated with the phenomenon of migration. The increase in migration due to the Arab uprisings in the 2010s, the handling of migration with security concerns, and Türkiye’s position as both an emigrant and a transit country have made it more difficult to solve the problem. In fact, when the 2009 Soysal judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) stated that Turkish citizens traveling for the purpose of performing services based on the Additional Protocol could not be subject to visa requirements, hopes were raised that a visa solution could be found. However, when the Demirkan judgment in 2013 declared that there was no such right, hopes faded. With the 2016 agreement, it seemed to reappear. At least that was the public hope.

Despite the objections of a few intellectuals, the majority welcomed this agreement, which was clear from the first day that it would destabilize Türkiye-EU relations, in the hope that it would revitalize relations with Europe. After this agreement, which was announced with headlines such as “Visas will be lifted in June 2016”, unfortunately, we observe that the visa application process has worsened. Visa problems not only cause Türkiye and Europe to distance themselves from each other, but also reinforce anti-Europeanism in Türkiye and anti- Türkiye sentiment in Europe. Relations with Europe have historically been important and have always been among the priorities of the governments of the Republic of Türkiye. In an environment where trade ties continue and neither side wants to completely sever relations, discussing Türkiye in Europe without Turks at the table and Europe in Türkiye without Europeans at the table is a major obstacle to communication.

Commercial diplomacy, which has entered our lives since the 1990s, has become an important component of relations between countries and plays a critical role in protecting economic interests. In particular, the need for increased competition in parallel with protectionist policies, which became more visible globally with the election of Trump for the second term as the US president, is important in terms of both the relations of commercial actors with the international private sector and their impact on international institutions. Business needs, national objectives, and foreign policy need to be harmonized. The combination of traditional and commercial diplomacy is essential for countries to strengthen their position in global political, cultural, economic, and social spheres. This requires increased interaction between societies. To achieve this, it is necessary to be able to travel more freely, whereas currently, the problems faced by various segments of society such as business people, students, and academics in obtaining Schengen visas continue to multiply. While there was talk of visa liberalization in 2016, there is now talk of visa facilitation for various sectors, especially business people, students, and academics.

All these discussions are also on the agenda in the context of the modernization of the Customs Union, but this process is a major challenge that directly affects Europe-Türkiye relations and needs to be addressed separately. The other thing to keep in mind is that the process of obtaining a visa has become a huge industry where hundreds of millions of pounds are spent. Applications that used to be made through consulates and embassies are now handled exclusively by intermediary agencies. There are also travel agencies that offer services for visa applications. Although embassy and consulate officials advise not to use these agencies and to apply individually directly through intermediary agencies, these agencies continue to be preferred by all segments of society, incurring additional costs and increasing the waiting time for appointments.

In the international arena, visas are also used by countries as a political tool and can become an indirect instrument of sanctions. However, when this issue is discussed with European decision-makers, the answers are that statistically there is no difference in the rejection rates of visas over the years and that the delays in applications and problems in making appointments are due to the increase in the number of applications are not very convincing both at the elite level and in the eyes of the public. In international relations, when there is a gap between countries and societies, it will inevitably be filled by other actors. The bottlenecks in economic, cultural, social, and political relations with Europe and the weakening of interaction between societies are becoming more evident in today’s increasingly competitive environment.

In a period when the post-World War II liberal world order is being questioned and the functionality of international institutions is being debated, there are opportunities for both states and non-state actors to develop new partnerships and relationship models. However, in this period of heightened uncertainty, it has become an inevitable strategic necessity for both sides to find an urgent solution, at least in terms of visa facilitation, with Europe, with which Türkiye has historically maintained close but volatile economic and security relations.