Juncker: No free visa for Turkey, if it fails to meet obligations

Erdogan accuses EU of hypocrisy

It seems the ‘war of words’ between Turkey and Europe is escalating  over the vissa-free EU travel, after European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker repeated once more that Turkey needs to fulfill the deal, if it hopes its citizens can gain unrestricted access within the EU borders. Juncker made it clear during a conference in Berlin that Turkey would receive no concessions on the free visa, if it did not change its anti-terrorist laws, which is one of the 5 remaining obligations out of the 72remaining Turkey has to meet in order for its nationals to enjoy full access to EU countries. Juncker said if Erdogan wants to impede his citizens from traveling to Europe he would have to explain it to them. ‘It’s not my problem, it’s his’, said Juncker. Meanwhile, the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the EU of hypocrisy saying he would not change his country’s anti-terrorist laws in the face of a revival of Kurdish terrorism. The EU has asked Turkey to reform its anti-terrorist laws that are many times used to muffle dissenting voices and suppress free speech. Erdogan has become notorious for targeting journalists who he deems are a threat to Turkey, with the most recent examples being a German comedian who was sued by Turkey for insulting Erdogan and a Dutch journalist of Turkish origin who was detained in Turkey for criticising him in a Dutch newspaper.