EFJ Urges Schengen Countries to End Schengen Visa Restrictions for Turkish Journalists.
Following a report from the Journalists’ Union of Türkiye saying that Turkish journalists are facing increased restrictions when applying for Schengen visas, the European Federation of Journalists has urged Schengen countries to put an end to such practices.
Recent data have shown that the Schengen visa rejection rate for Turkish applicants has increased from 15 per cent in 2022 to a staggering 50 per cent at present.
Taking into account such figures, EFJ has raised concerns over the systematic obstruction of Turkish journalists’ visa applications by the Schengen visa-issuing countries.
The same has urged all Schengen countries to facilitate its rules and not keep “discriminatory attitudes” towards Turkish journalists.
“We urge the Schengen countries to put an end to the de facto visa embargo imposed on journalists. We call upon a number of diplomatic missions to rectify their prejudiced and discriminatory attitudes towards journalists from Turkey, as these biases obstruct reporters from fulfilling their professional responsibilities effectively,” EFJ Vice President Mustafa Kuleli said.
According to EFJ, sports journalist Sinem Okten is one of the many journalists who was denied a Schengen visa twice by two different countries.
Okten has previously visited the Schengen Area multiple times to cover matches as well as interviews and was taken aback when she found out that her visa was not approved.
“I initially applied to Germany and then to France. Both countries rejected my application. I have travelled abroad numerous times to follow and film matches and conduct interviews, possibly around 50-60 times. This is the first time I have encountered such a problem,” the statement of Okten reads.
She further stressed that the German embassy did not provide a reason for the rejection. On the other hand, the French embassy cited insufficient evidence that the presenter could support her stay in France or return to Türkiye.
In addition to Turkish journalists, other citizens of the country have also been facing Schengen visa obstacles and have complained of high visa rejection rates.
However, despite the Schengen visa problems that citizens of Türkiye have been facing, data shows that Türkiye is the largest source of Schengen visa applications. In 2022 alone, Turkish citizens filed more than 700,000 Schengen visa applications, surpassing the number of those filed by citizens of Russia.
Since Türkiye has not reached a visa-free travel agreement yet, all of its citizens are required to apply for a visa to enter the bloc, regardless of the purpose of their trip.
