Istanbul – ESI briefing at Columbia Global Centers: Cutting the Turkey-EU Visa Knot. How Turks can travel freely to Europe
6 June 2013
Istanbul. Photo: flickr/Moyan Brenn
Columbia Global Centers | Turkey and the European Stability Initiative invite you to a briefing on
how Turkey and the EU can revive the visa liberalisation process:
Cutting the Turkey-EU Visa Knot
How Turks can travel freely to Europe
with
Gerald Knaus, European Stability Initiative, Chairman
Thursday, 6 June 2013, 10.00-12.00
Columbia Global Centers | Turkey
Sıraselviler Cad. No: 49 Yeni Hayat Apt. Fl. 2 No. 5 Taksim, İstanbul
Important information:
Dear guests: The CGC | Turkey – ESI event on visa liberalization will continue to take place as scheduled, though we advise participants to allocate some extra time to get to the Taksim Square area. Those arriving by car should come up the hill from Tophane/Kabataş towards Cihangir, passing the Italian and German hospitals, to reach the Columbia Global Center offices at #49 Sıraseliver Caddesi. Ample parking space can be found within a short walking distance. Please feel free to call us at any time should you have questions. +90 212 243 2911
Never before has there been an EU candidate negotiating accession for years whose citizens are unable to travel to the EU without a visa. Turkey is the exception. While visa liberalization has been a crucial element for EU relations with other south eastern European countries, the EU has not been prepared to discuss the topic until summer 2012, when the Commission received a mandate for a visa liberalization process. Since then, little has happened.
What explains the current stalemate? What can be done to cut through this visa knot?
Mr. Knaus will present ESI's five specific recommendations on how Turkey and the EU can move successfully towards visa liberalization. Given the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the 1963 Association Agreement between Turkey and the EU, the time for a breakthrough is now.
Since 2004 the European Stability Initiative (ESI), a Berlin-based think tank, has published a large number of reports on Turkey for a wide European audience. These reports are all available at www.esiweb.org.
ESI has worked on issue of visa liberalisation since 2006, supported by an advisory board including Giuliano Amato (Italy), Otto Schily (Germany) and Charles Clark (United Kingdom). Since 2012, with the support of Stiftung Mercator, the focus has been on visa liberalisation for Turkey: www.whitelistproject.eu.
RSVP: +90 212 243 2911 | nb2631@columbia.edu
- ESI report: Cutting the Visa Knot. How Turks can travel freely to Europe (21 May 2013)
- ESI report: A very special relationship. Why Turkey's EU accession process will continue (2010)
- ESI on visa-free travel for Turkey
