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Turkey, Russia To Sign Visa Removal Agreement

08 May 2010 04:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Turkey and Russia will sign a visa removal agreement next week. Turkey and Russia are expected to sign the agreement during Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev’s visit to Turkey on May 11-12, APA reports quoting turkishny.com web-page.
"The consulates of the two countries have initialed the agreement to lift visa procedures," Turkey’s Ambassador to Russia Halil Akinci told AA correspondent.
Akinci said Russia had requested small changes in the editing of the agreement.
However, Medvedev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul could sign the agreement without waiting for domestic approval process to end, Akinci said.
Transitions between Turkey and Russia without any visa are expected to begin within this year.
Removal of visa procedures first came up during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Moscow last January. Two countries have launched necessary studies as Russia was also positive towards the move.
The initialed agreement foresees tourist visits for up to one month between the two countries to be exempted from visa.
Turkish citizens earning their living in Russia and Turkish students having education in Russia are expected to be out of this implementation.
According to Turkey, 2.6 million Russian people visited Turkey last year. This figure was 1.9 million according to Russia’s statistics.
Turkish citizens preferring Moscow as a tourist destination is around 30,000-40,000.