by Daniel Csorgo
Schengen visa processing is a longstanding irritant in EU-Türkiye relations. Complaints portraying EU visa policy as discriminatory and humiliating towards Turkish citizens are made almost daily by business organisations, travel associations as well as politicians. There is no shortage of investigative articles and opinion pieces either. No wonder that during the 30 June 2026 visit of HR/VP Kallas and Commissioners Brunner and Kos to Ankara the Turkish side raised the matter at the highest level again.
What these criticisms rarely acknowledge is a fundamental reality: for more than two decades, Ankara prioritised demands for full visa-free travel over pragmatic visa facilitations that could have delivered immediate benefits for millions of Turkish citizens.
For years, Turkish politicians have blamed Brussels, Berlin and Paris for long waiting times, administrative burdens and high refusal rates. Yet the uncomfortable truth is that Türkiye is suffering today largely because its own leaders rejected arrangements that could have made visas cheaper, faster and easier. No country has done more to undermine its own prospects for easier access to Europe than Türkiye itself.
For over twenty years, Ankara argued that the 1970 Additional Protocol legally entitled Turkish citizens to visa-free travel. Successive governments considered that concluding a visa facilitation agreement would amount to accepting the EU visa regime imposed on Türkiye.
This position was never accepted by the European Commission, the Council or the European Court of Justice. The 2009 Soysal judgment confirmed that the visa requirement itself does not breach the 1970 Additional Protocol and that only a narrow category of Turkish service providers may benefit from visa-free travel.
Despite this, Ankara pursued visa liberalisation as an entitlement rather than the outcome of negotiation. While neighbouring countries accepted pragmatic visa facilitation agreements and secured tangible benefits for their citizens, Türkiye remained fixated on an all-or-nothing objective. Russia, the Western Balkans countries, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and even Cabo Verde concluded visa facilitation agreements with the EU. Türkiye did not.
Visa facilitation means lower fees, faster processing and fewer supporting documents. The price of rejecting it has been paid not by politicians but by ordinary Turkish citizens: businesspeople, students, researchers and families visiting relatives. The scale is considerable. Turkish citizens submitted around 1.26 million Schengen visa applications in 2025, making Türkiye the world’s second-largest source country. Over the years, the absence of visa facilitation has likely cost ordinary Turkish citizens well over one billion euro.
A breakthrough seemed possible in 2013 when Türkiye and the EU signed the Readmission Agreement and launched the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue. A structured roadmap towards visa-free travel was established. Türkiye made solid progress on many of the 72 benchmarks, and the 2016 EU-Türkiye Statement envisaged lifting the visa requirement that year, provided all benchmarks were fulfilled. Instead, securing €6 billion financial assistance from the EU and the failed coup attempt still in 2016, the process deteriorated. Türkiye suspended full implementation of the Readmission Agreement and accused the EU of failing to honour its commitments. The EU insisted that the remaining benchmarks (in relation to fight against corruption, counter-terrorism, judicial cooperation and data protection) had to be completed before visa liberalisation could be granted. The dialogue froze, while Ankara reverted to demanding visa-free travel without meeting the agreed conditions.
Today, Turkish officials portray the visa issue as evidence of European double standards. No doubt that Schengen States can and should improve visa processing and especially appointment availability–which became the major source of justified complaints. At the same time, the EU has introduced its most significant facilitation measure for Turkish travellers in years. Since July 2025, Turkish citizens with a positive travel history have benefited from a streamlined regime of granting long-validity multiple-entry visas of up to five years. The measure reduces repeat applications despite the absence of visa liberalisation. Too little, too late.
The uncomfortable reality is that Türkiye has become the biggest loser of EU visa policy largely because of its own strategic choices. For more than twenty years, Turkish leaders pursued a strategy centred on legal arguments and political symbolism. The result is that millions of Turkish citizens continue to face a visa system that could have been considerably easier, cheaper and more predictable. Ironically, while the EU maintains a longstanding (albeit suspended) Visa Facilitation Agreement with Russia, Türkiye continues complaining whenever and wherever it can.
The lesson is simple: pragmatism often delivers more than principle. Had Ankara prioritised simplification and facilitation over liberalisation, Turkish citizens might today enjoy many of the practical benefits that remain frustratingly out of reach.
On 30 June, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat reportedly stated that “simplifying the visa application process is Ankara’s top diplomatic priority until full visa-free travel is achieved”. Was this merely a slip of the tongue, or have the Turkish authorities finally recognised that procedural facilitation is the necessary stepping stone towards visa liberalisation?
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