In the agreement to grant visas to Turkish citizens, in order to facilitate their visits to the Greek islands, it was mentioned, among other things, Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Dimitris Kairidis speaking to SKAI and the program Atariastoi.

“This is a large measure that concerns 10 islands from Lemnos to Kastellorizos which we choose and are the islands that have suffered the greatest immigration pressure and is a compensation to the inhabitants and the economy of our islands”, he said characteristically.

It is noted that Kalymnos, Lemnos, Kos, Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Leros, Rhodes, Symi and Kastelorizo ​​are the 10 islands of the Eastern Aegean that Turkish citizens will be able to visit, in the framework of the implementation of the agreement on the rapid granting of visas and sign Greece – Turkey.

It is a special 7-day visa to facilitate Turkish visitors

As the minister explained, the visa concerns a Turk who wants to go to Chios, for example, and does not need to go to our consulate in Ankara or Izmir through time-consuming procedures, such as an interview, to obtain a Schengen visa. “He can decide in the morning to go across to Cesme, take the boat to Chios, and on the spot at the island’s customs office, get the visa from the Greek policeman after the security check is done.”

It is, as he stated, a 7-day visa with a special stamp that is put on the passport while he cannot leave Greece and travel elsewhere and it was done to facilitate access and communication between the two peoples.

“It is something that our islanders really wanted,” he noted.

Asked if it will be extended to other islands, he said that if it works properly and the rules are followed, he can proceed further, confirming that there are other islands that have made similar requests. “We bring tourists who are already coming,” he emphasized.

Mr. Kairides explained, among other things, that Greece is a member of Schengen and in order to proceed with any exemption from the very strict rules of Schengen, it must have the agreement of the Europeans. “Things were not easy there because the Northern Europeans are afraid, they don’t want easier access for Turkish citizens within Schengen”, he noted characteristically and underlined that today something unusual is happening that we never had in the past: “We have many Turkish citizens requesting asylum in Europe. It is the second largest population after the Syrian in Germany. So in view of the European elections, the last thing the German government or other northerners want is more and easier access for the Turks”, he said.

Immigration: We are not complacent, we have a 60% reduction in immigration flows

Regarding immigration, he stated that there is regular contact with the new interior minister – which includes the police, etc.

He underlined that there is an agreement for direct regular communication which he described as necessary

Mr. Kairides, referring to the numbers of immigration flows in our country, emphasized that we had high numbers in August – September, but since then we have had a large decrease of 60%. “It is a first step, we are not complacent and we monitor the numbers on a frequent basis – how many boats are leaving, how the Turkish coast guard reacts, if they react to our calls-“.

As he mentioned, the practice on the Turkish side has changed in relation to traffickers and as he said they have pledged rhetorically that they will crack down on illegal trafficking and rings.

Regarding Lavrio mentioned by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Kairides stated that “there was an informal self-managed and self-administered structure that did not belong to the national reception system that the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum has in which Kurdish refugees or asylum seekers are hosted and in which the PKK, according to Turkish propaganda, was training terrorists. It is a building in the center of Lavrio which is claimed by the municipality of Lavrio and with which we reached an agreement because it collapsed to be restored and all the residents were safely transferred to other structures of the national reception system”.