Dutch court says businesspeople from Turkey don't need visas

A high Dutch administrative court ruled yesterday that Turkish citizens visiting the Netherlands for business purposes cannot be asked to present an entry visa and they can stay in the country without a residence permit for up to three months. The Dutch Council of State rejected an appeal by the Dutch Ministry of Migration and Refugees against an earlier ruling that businesspeople do not need entry visas, given by Haarlem Court in February 2011 in a case filed by Cahit Yilmaz, a Turkish businessman. The high court said the visa requirement for Turkish businesspeople violated the Ankara Agreement signed between Turkey and the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1963 and an additional protocol dated 1973. Yilmaz's lawyers said that the ruling was "historic and a first" in Europe and that the case set a precedent. Despite the court ruling, lawyers advised Turkish businesspeople to obtain a visa before coming to the Netherlands, saying it would take time for Dutch officials to amend the related laws to conform to the ruling.