Turkey slams Eurocourt ruling over visas

A decision of the Court of Justice of European Union (ECOJ) refusing to grant Turkish citizens the right to visa-free travel has been fiercely criticized by the Turkish government that described the rule as "unjust," "political" and conflicting with the ongoing process between Ankara and Brussels for visa liberalization. In a written statement, Turkey's EU Minister Egemen Bagis underlined that some EU countries who were pushing Turkey to sign the Readmission Agreement to move forward in visa-free travel talks had put the Court under pressure and had issued negative assessments with regard to the case. "This situation created suspicions about the sincerity of these countries over the visa liberalization process. It should be noted that Turkey will not ignore the positions of these countries during its talks with the European Commission," Bagis said in his statement. Turkey and the European Commission were planning to accelerate a process that would grant visa-free travel rights to Turkish citizens in return for Ankara's signing of the Readmission Agreement. The court's decision is likely to create further difficulties for the parties to advance, due to the growing lack of confidence. Bagis said the court's ruling was mainly political and was aiming at creating new borders within the European continent although the EU claimed to be removing such boundaries. "This decision of the ECOJ is unfortunate as regards the principle of rule of law, one of the most fundamental values of the EU," he said.