Schengen Visa Deadlock: The Unresolved Case of Turkish Citizens

Abstract

The visa policy of the European Union (EU) member states against Turkish citizens has been a controversial topic for decades. Millions of Turkish citizens suffer from serious restrictions before their travel to the Schengen area for the purpose of their non-gainful activities. In time, two main options appeared before the visa-free travel of Turkish citizens, namely the opportunity brought by the interpretations of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) based on the “stand-still clause” and secondly the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue. The objective of the article is to discuss whether the visa regime against Turkish citizens is justified or politically motivated. It connects the technical/legal analysis to a political analysis through the securitization theory. Security framing practices of the European actors at various policy levels are analyzed to explain the continuation of the restrictive visa regime against Turkish citizens despite two strong options that could have ensured visa-free travel. This article concludes that as a result of developments following the failed coup attempt in 2016, visa-free travel of Turkish citizens which was framed through the perceived threat of Turkish migration has transformed into a real threat.

Keywords

Securitization, Türkiye-EU Relations, Readmission Agreement, Visa Liberalisation Dialogue, Court of Justice of the European Union

Citation

Burak Erdenir, “Schengen Visa Deadlock: The Unresolved Case of Turkish Citizens,” Uluslararası İlişkiler, Advanced Online Publication, 24 December 2024, pp. 1-20. DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.1601910

Affiliations

Burak ERDENİR Associate Professor, Directorate for European Union Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Türkiye, Ankara E-Mail: [email protected] Orcid: 0000-0002-0862-5684