Türkiye takes first step towards EU visa-free travel

Türkiye has drafted new personal data protection legislation, its first concrete step under a strategy to clear the remaining obstacles to visa-free travel to the EU, BBC News Türkçe reported on 13 October. Technical talks between Turkish ministries and the European Commission are expected soon, but no date has been set.

Data protection is one of six benchmarks Türkiye has still not met out of the 72 in the roadmap agreed when the visa liberalisation dialogue began in December 2013. The other five are changes to counter-terrorism law, an operational agreement with Europol, the anti-corruption recommendations of the Council of Europe's GRECO, judicial cooperation with all EU member states, and full implementation of the readmission agreement. The Commission considers Türkiye's current data protection framework inadequate, and the gap also holds back the Europol agreement and cooperation on terrorism cases.

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced the new approach in August. An EU official told BBC News Türkçe that Brussels welcomed the move after a long period of inactivity, and Türkiye is expected to ask for flexibility on some points. There is no timetable. Even after every benchmark is met, visa-free travel would still need a Commission report, agreement among member states in the Council and approval by the European Parliament.

Turkish citizens still need Schengen visas. Per Türkiye Today, citing European Commission figures, applications from Türkiye rose 8% to more than 1.26 million in 2025, and 14.6% were refused (as of 14 October 2026).