According to the reply cited by the Bild newspaper, the Turkish authorities will not be able to issue biometric passports to its citizens, a requirement stipulated by Brussels, by that time.
The set of criteria established by the European Commission for abolishing visa requirements for Turkish citizens specifies that only holders of a biometric passport will be allowed to travel to the European Union`s borderless Schengen area.
In March, the European Union and Turkey agreed on a deal, under which Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory, in exchange Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey on a one-for-one basis. In return, the bloc pledged to accelerate Turkey`s EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime for its citizens.
Berlin says visa-free regime with Turkey by Oct. unlikely
19 August 2016
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The German government doubts that the proposed liberalization of the visa regime with Turkey can be achieved by October due to "technical reasons," the authorities said in a written reply to Germany’s Left Party on Friday.
