EU 'systematically' blocks Turkish citizens' visa applications: Travel body head

Turkish citizens' applications for Schengen visas are being "systematically" blocked, a Turkish tourism body head told Anadolu.

"Unfortunately, there is a systematic barrier to (Turkish citizens') visa applications. Moreover, the rejection rates faced by our citizens who applied for visas have also risen significantly," said Firuz Bağlıkaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB).

"The rate of visa applications rejected in 2023 rose from 15% in 2022 to 50% now," he added.

Recently, Turkish citizens face visa problems such as increased scrutiny of visa applications and months of waiting just to get a date for an appointment.

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan vowed to solve the problem faced by Turkish citizens in acquiring visas for Europe and the U.S.

"We will settle the visa problem, which has been used as a political blackmail recently, as soon as possible," Erdoğan said.

Bağlıkaya said there are efforts to restrict the freedom to travel and that travel agencies that organize overseas tours are also suffering a serious loss of business.

Appointments used to be available in a week to 10 days but now are delayed due to the throttling in quotas, he also said.

"Intermediary institutions direct our citizens and agencies to the VIP visa application service since regular visa appointments can't be made or appointments with very far-off dates have been made recently," he explained.