Published December 09,2023
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Greece hopes that the visa facilitation scheme introduced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Dec. 7 throughout a joint assertion with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would contribute to the development of the intersocietal ties.
In an unique interview with Anadolu, Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Dimitris Kairidis, in reference to the go to, stated: “It was undoubtedly a very good day for Turkish-Greek relations after a long time. And I think we can be much more optimistic today than we were before. Everything went very well. Better even than expected.”
Pointing out the position of the politicians in managing the bilateral relations, the minister asserted: “We, politicians from both the Turkish and Greek sides, want to solve problems, not to perpetuate, or increase them.”
More particularly, Kairidis famous that the assembly between Mitsotakis and Erdoğan, sturdy leaders with a refreshed mandate in current elections, is a profound alternative to not be missed in the case of additional bettering the relations between the NATO allies.
“Now that elections are far away in both countries, 2027 for Greece and 2028 for Türkiye, there is time to make substantial progress. I think we owe it to our people and future generations,” he stated.
VISA FACILITATION SCHEME FOR TURKISH CITIZENS
According to Kairidis, the visa facilitation scheme, for which he personally strived, must be understood within the scope of the continued good spirit in bilateral relations.
He maintained that the scheme got here regardless of sturdy skepticism from some members of the EU, extra peculiarly in Northern and Western Europe.
Reminding that Türkiye is the one candidate member of the EU that does not profit from the visa-free entry to the Schengen Area, not like different candidate members, Kairidis asserted that Greece has systematically supported Türkiye’s EU prospects and visa liberalization for Turkish residents.
That state of affairs has additionally been an issue for Greece, which needed to draw extra Turkish guests, the minister famous, including that Turkish vacationers are valued by the Greek tourism sector nearly as good spenders and family-oriented individuals.
“We eventually managed to convince the European Commission about the benefits of the scheme in bringing the Turks and Greeks together,” he stated.
As such, Kairidis added: “This is truly a win-win solution for both countries.”
HOW WILL VISA FACILITATION PROGRAM WORK?
Kairidis defined that this system will allow Turkish residents, all year long, to go to 10 Greek islands-including Lemnos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros, Kalymnos, Kos, Rhodes, Kastelorizo-for as much as seven days by having their particular sort of visa issued by the Greek police upon their arrival, after their knowledge is checked on the Schengen visa and Europol databases, as an alternative of going by a cumbersome common visa utility course of.
Furthermore, he confused that if this pilot program is profitable, arguments for wider visa facilitations for Turkish passport holders shall be sturdy on the stage of the European Commission.
IMPORTANCE OF TURKISH-GREEK RAPPROCHEMENT FOR REGION
Drawing consideration to the continued tensions and conflicts within the wider area, together with however not restricted to the Israeli-Palestine battle and the warfare in Ukraine, Kairidis stated: “The last thing the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean need is a conflict between Greece and Türkiye, which are two very important countries.”
“It is in the interest of everybody, not only Greeks and Turks but our neighborhood in general, to do our best to overcome difficulties,” the minister added.
Reaffirming the presence of disputes between the nations, Kairidis asserted that the Mitsotakis authorities is honest in creating a peaceable co-existence with Türkiye.
Source: www.anews.com.tr