Warning from Bagis to coreper about EU visas

Speaking on the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives' (COREPER) decision on "easing EU visa process for Turkish citizens," EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said, "I hope EU will not play on words and act cunningly" Bagis said he hoped EU would not resort to word games to make Turkey sign the Readmission Agreement. Bagis said, "We have a simple condition to sign the Readmission Agreement. Right after the EU Council authorizes the Commission to start visa exemption talks we will be ready to sign the Readmission Agreement. We are not asking them to provide us with visa exemption to sign the agreement. We just want the Commission to be authorized to carry out visa exemption talks, just like you did for other countries. We expect the road to visa exemption completely opened without waste of time. Of course the efforts aimed at easing the EU visa process are important, but our ultimate goal is visa exemption." Bagis said that they have been continuously telling their EU counterparts how implausible and unlawful the visas required from Turkish citizens are.