Abstract


A REVIEW INTO THE IMPACT OF LEGAL AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS ON THE VISA ISSUE IN TURKEY-EU RELATIONS

The realization of the process of full membership to the European Union will provide visa-free movement rights to Turkish citizens in EU member states. However, this process is not yet complete, and this circumstance has led Turkey to look for alternatives. In 2012, a positive agenda including visa mobility, immigration and terrosim was established in order to revitalize relations which came to a standstill. Although some arrangements have been made for the free movement of Turkish citizens in EU countries, both within the scope of the Partnership Law and with the Readmission Agreement, no full consensus has been reached in this direction. Following the Ankara Agreement signed for full membership in 1963, partnership relations were strengthened with the Additional Protocol, which entered into force in 1973, thus paving the way for Turkish citizens to be granted some privileges in their transition to EU member states. Agreements and partnerships were also not sufficient enough to solve the visa problem. Therefore, the visa exemption issue between the EU and Turkey has continued until the present day. Based on the visa exemption problem, the study was conducted on the questions of "what are the legal bases of visa exemption" and "how political processes affect visa exemption". At this point, in the study, in order to examine the legal problems, reference is made to the Association Council Decision and the Readmission Agreement and the European Union Court of Justice (ECAD) decisions on the basis of the Ankara Agreement and the Additional Protocol. The question of how the political processes affect the visa exemption is examined within the scope of the effects of the Readmission Agreement on the refugee problem, the reflection of the far-right party in the EU on politics, and the increasing Islamophobia accordingly and the Covid-19 outbreak. The dialogue between Turkey and the EU on visas continues for a long time. However, this issue has been brought to the agenda again with the Readmission Agreement. Although the Readmission Agreement was seen as a re-entry gate for visa exemption in this respect, a number of political reasons prevented the promised exemption from being granted. Considering all these circumstances, this study will examine both legal problems and the effects of increasing political problems on visa exemption. From this point of view, the contribution of the study to the literature will be evaluated in the light of current developments.



Keywords

Geri Kabul Anlaşması, serbest dolaşım, vize muafiyeti





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