The spat between the European Union and Turkey over visa-free travel is heating up. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is demanding the abolition of visas for his citizens, or else he'll renege on a deal that has reduced the flood of refugees to the EU to a trickle. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told Erdogan that won't get him anywhere. 

This public fight is futile. Europe could safely cancel visas for Turkey and many other countries: The benefits would far outweigh the costs. 

The EU struck its deal with Turkey in March. Erdogan agreed that his country would take back undocumented immigrants who arrive in Europe by the Balkan route, which was used by more than 1 million people last year. In return, he demanded 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) in aid and an end to short-term Schengen zone visas for Turks by the end of June. The Europeans promised the money and agreed to expedite visa liberalization "provided that all benchmarks have been met." 

Erdogan appears to have missed that caveat. On Wednesday, he said the immigrant readmission agreement wouldn't pass the Turkish parliament if visa-free travel wasn't granted. "Turkey is supposed to fulfill criteria? What criteria are these I ask you?" he fumed. 

Juncker's reply was prompt and equally sharp. "We do expect that Turkey will stick to its commitments -- and threats are not the best diplomatic instrument you can use," he said. "So one should stop to use them, because they will produce no effect whatsoever."

There are 72 criteria that Turkey is supposed to meet, and further work is needed on only five of them, according to a May 4 document from the European Commission. These are, however, the hardest to implement: They concern anti-corruption legislation, police and judicial cooperation with the EU, personal data protection to EU standards and, most importantly to Erdogan, changes to legislation that now allows him to persecute journalists and academics for "terrorist propaganda."

Erdogan's repression of dissent is deplorable. One might wonder, however, what this has to do with 90-day tourist visas to the EU. After all, if someone needs to escape persecution, the need to get a visa is a serious barrier.

David Fuller's view

I commend the rest of this article to you.  Leonid Bershidsky’s intelligent analysis has certainly influenced my views on the subject. Allowing Turkish citizens to visit Europe without visas, for tourism rather than job seeking, would boost tourist spending.  Also, as educated middleclass Turks see more of the free world, the less likely they will be to favour Erdogan’s undemocratic authoritarian policies back home.