Greece prepares '1-year visa at the door' for Turkey

It has been learned that Greece is preparing a 1-year "visa at the door" program for Turkish citizens on Aegean islands. 

According to a report in Hürriyet, the main outlines of this draft agreement, which has been under negotiation since Greek Minister of Migration and Asylum Dimitris Kairidis met with Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya in Ankara earlier this week, have leaked to the Greek press.

According to information reported by the newspaper Kathimerini, the draft agreement, titled "memorandum of understanding," envisions a 1-year "visa at the door" program for Turkish citizens on the Aegean islands of Rhodes, Lesbos, Samos, Chios, Kos, Leros, and Kastellorizo.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the "visa at the door" program on the islands was limited to only 15 days.

"IT WILL BE A MODEL FOR EUROPE"

Stating that "this new visa facilitation to be implemented for Turkish citizens on the islands will serve as a model to cover all of Europe in the future," Kathimerini wrote that Minister of Migration and Asylum Kairidis discussed the details of the agreement during his recent meeting with Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs.

Kathimerini also wrote that the same draft agreement would include two clauses stating that an official from the Turkish Coast Guard would be permanently stationed on the island of Lesbos, an official from the Greek Coast Guard would be permanently stationed in İzmir, and that both countries would avoid extremist rhetoric regarding illegal migration.