Compulsory visas for Turkish nationals

Recommendation 906 (1980)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 2 October 1980 (19th Sitting) (see Doc. 4625, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography). Text adopted by the Assembly on 2 October 1980 (19th Sitting).

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Deeply concerned by the decision of the Federal Republic of Germany and France to introduce general compulsory visas for Turkish nationals as from 5 October 1980, and fearing that other states, in particular those belonging to the European Communities, might take similar measures ;

2. Stressing the discriminatory nature of this decision against the nationals of a member state ;

3. Convinced that this decision is in conflict with the goal of the Council of Europe, which is to achieve a greater unity between its members ;

4. Concerned that decisions of this kind might jeopardise the situation of Turkish migrants within the societies of the host countries, in particular by slowing down the integration process, which has often been set in motion with great difficulty ;

5. Fearing that the measures taken by the Federal Republic of Germany and France might give the Turkish people the impression that European solidarity is confined to statements of intent, and applies only partly to countries which, because of their geographical situation and history, have not undergone the same industrial development as most of the other Western European countries, in particular those of the European Communities ;

6. Noting that Turkey has, on many occasions, shown unconditional support for the process of European integration, and believing that the governments of member states should avoid measures which might affect the pro-European tendency of this country whose neighbours, with one exception, do not have parliamentary or democratic regimes,

7. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

7.1 urge the governments of member states which have introduced compulsory visas for the nationals of other member countries to review these decisions and repeal them without delay ;

7.2 invite the governments of other member states, in particular those of the European Communities, not to take similar measures against Turkish nationals.