Turkish business leaders are growing increasingly frustrated over visa restrictions imposed on businesspeople seeking to travel to European Union countries, a row that has been straining already sensitive relations.
Businesspeople and citizens have been complaining of lengthy processing times and a growing number of EU visa rejections in recent years. Ankara has called the efforts "deliberate," while officials from both sides have sought ways to engage in dialogue to resolve the matter.
Şekib Avdagiç, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), pointed out the inconsistency of the European Union, criticizing how it both complains about China's commercial pressure and yet finds excuses to grant short-term visas or no visas at all to Turkish businesspeople who could help solve supply chain issues.
"We tell European diplomats that you are not allowing our businesspeople, who want to purchase machinery, to come to your countries. Then you complain when they buy machines from China. You are harming yourselves," Avdagiç told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAL Paris Food Fair on Wednesday.
The business community, he explained, is increasingly exasperated by the bureaucratic hurdles involved in securing Schengen visas – a system that was once considered routine but has now turned into an obstacle for many.
The issue is now impacting trade relations and pushing businesses to look elsewhere for their needs.
Top officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been working intensively to address the issue with their European counterparts, according to Avdagiç. Yet, the problem persists.
"This is an issue that can only be solved at the state level," Avdagiç said. "But we also frequently share our perspective with high-ranking EU officials and hope for progress in the near future."
One of the main issues Avdagiç highlighted is what he described as a "circular problem." EU officials have cited the rising number of visa applications and concerns about overstays as reasons for the restrictive policies. However, Avdagiç insists that both explanations are flawed.
"They first tell us that visa applications have increased and that they can't keep up. Then they tell us the number of those with visas who do not return has increased too much," he said, "but that's not the real issue. What's happening is that short-term visas – often for one week, a month, three months or six months – are forcing people to reapply constantly, creating duplication."
"There is no surge in new applicants; it’s the same people, applying again and again," Avdagiç said.
Days ago, Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), said the visa and quota problems had a negative impact on relations and called for the issue to be solved "urgently."
For decades, Türkiye and the bloc have enjoyed good trade ties and cooperation on migration. However, relations have been strained over multiple issues, including the prolonged process of modernization and expansion of the scope of the current customs union agreement and EU policies on refugees from Syria.
Avdagiç emphasized that the European Union's use of the refugee issue as a justification for the visa problem is contradictory and lacks technical validity.
"You claim that people come and stay as refugees. What difference does it make if you grant them a one-week or a 10-year visa? If they intend to stay, they’ll stay. The visa length is irrelevant. In our view, there is no technical basis for this reasoning," he noted.