"We look forward to determining the specific date of introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU states members, which is important for the future of the Agreement on readmission. This could be the beginning or mid-October, but the EU should announce the exact date", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Anadolu reports.
In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the head of Turkish diplomacy reminded that the agreement between Ankara and Brussels on the fight against illegal immigration of March 18 contributed to reducing the number of refugees arriving at the Greek islands.
"The traffickers and their victims now clearly understand they will be sent back in case of arrival on the island. In addition, we have taken a very serious anti-smuggling measures, including in Turkey. Reduction of the flow of migrants is also facilitated by the fact that people who do not use the services of illegal carriers, were given a real chance to be placed in the European Union’s territories", Cavusoglu said.
He also recalled that Turkey received more than a thousand people in the framework of the bilateral readmission agreement between Turkey and Greece.
"Greece side is happy with the level of cooperation in this field", the Foreign Minister said.