Bozkır to meet EU officials for visa-free travel talks

European Parliament will convene Wednesday an extraordinary session to review the visa deal, which was reached with Turkey in mid-March.

The EU and Turkey reached a historic deal on the migrant crisis on March 18. Under the agreement, the EU requested that Turkey host refugees whose asylum claims are rejected in Greece. In return, Turkey demanded 3 bn-euro migration fund, visa-free travel for its citizens, and acceleration of talks for its integration into the 28-nation bloc.

In late April, Bozkır announced that Turkey would fulfill all 72 obligations required to ensure visa-free travel by a May 4 deadline, when the European Commission will decide on whether to recommend that Turkish nationals be exempted from visa requirements for travel to the Schengen zone.

Meanwhile, Turkish EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkır's flying to Europe on the eve of the EU Parliament's meeting seems to be crucial for relations between Turkey and the EU. Bozkır will hold talks in Strasbourg and Brussels respectively, his office announced on Tuesday.

In Strasbourg, the minister will meet with President of EU Parliament Martin Schulz, European People's Party Group Chair Manfred Weber, European People's Party MP Anna-Maria Corazza Bildt, the chair of European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECRG), Syed Kamall and the chair of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group, Gianni Pittella.

Bozkır will then head for Brussels. He will meet Thorbjorn Jagland, the General Secretary of EU Council.

Officials in Ankara say his talks will focus on Turkey's integration into the 20-nation bloc and the EU's promise to exempt Turkish citizens from visa requirements.