Visa-free travel: Europe's reputation on the line

On Dec. 16, 2013 President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was the prime minister at the time, and European Commision officials signed an agreement to lift visa restrictions on Turkish citizens by the end of 2016. On March 18, this year Turkey and the European Union reached an agreement to create a legal mechanism for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Europe and the readmission of illegal immigrants by Turkey. Under the deal, the Turkish government pledged to stem the flow of migrants to the Greek islands, introduce visa requirements for Syrian nationals traveling to Turkey, take back illegal immigrants arriving at the Greek islands and take legal steps necessary to meet 72 benchmarks for visa liberalization. In return, European leaders promised Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu that they would introduce visa-free travel for Turkish citizens earlier, by the end of June. In addition, they pledged financial assistance to humanitarian relief projects and the resettlement of one Syrian refugee for each illegal immigrant sent back to Turkey. The process kicked off two weeks later, with the first Syrian refugees being flown to Germany and the first group of illegal immigrants – mostly Pakistani and Afghan nationals – arriving at Dikili, İzmir from the Greek islands.

To be clear, the Turkish government already delivered its promises to the European Union. The number of people illegally crossing the Aegean Sea each day has dropped from 6,000 in November 2015 to 130 in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Turkey is taking back all illegal immigrants deported by the Greek government – even though the Greek bureaucracy's inefficiency created a bottleneck. Finally, the Turkish Parliament done passing legislation geared toward fulfilling the technical criteria by today.

The Turks, however, have a hard time counting on their European allies. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeatedly said that Turkey would not renegotiate terms with the European leadership. If Europe is unwilling to honor the agreement, he recently warned, Turkey would have no choice but to halt the readmission process.

The Turkish side's commitment to the deal and open criticism of Europe's second thoughts fuel tensions across the continent. In recent weeks, the Turkey-EU agreement's critics accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others of letting the Turkish leadership push them around and selling out European values to stop more refugees from reaching Europe. British politician Nigel Farage, who leads the U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, recently accused David Cameron of supporting Turkey's European Union membership bid and claimed it was "safer to vote to leave and take back control of our borders." To cut a long story short, the European far-right have been making thinly-veiled references to a disaster scenario involving millions of Muslims invading Europe.

It would appear racism is alive and kicking in the old continent.

European leaders aren't completely innocent either. Instead of taking a clear stance against racism and Islamophobia, some governments tried to appease their critics by slowing down the visa liberalization process and introducing what they called an emergency break – as if Turkey's integration into the European Union was a national disaster or a security risk.

It's hardly a secret that Turkey is no stranger to European double standards. The Turkish public is fully aware that (the predominantly Christian) citizens of other Eastern European countries have been granted visa-free travel during the course of accession talks. Many Turks still remember how the Greek Cypriots were rewarded by Brussels for voting against the Annan plan and the reunification of the island. This time around, though, the Turkish government must not stomach disrespect.

If European leaders fail to keep their word and try to renegotiate terms for visa liberalization, Turkey's leaders must permanently suspend the Turkey-EU agreement and prevent additional casualties by safely transporting Syrian refugees to the Greek islands. The Turkish people have set an example to the world by hosting 3 million refugees for five years. It might be a good idea to provide our European friends with an opportunity to show their colors.