Deal gives 75m Turks free access to Europe

Eu leaders last night signed an agreement with Turkey to allow its citizens visa- free travel in Europe.

The deal, part of a process to speed up Turkey’s membership of the Eu, will also see the nation given 3billion euros (£2.1billion) to spend on stemming the migrant flow into Europe.

Turkey is the main route for migrants into the continent, and is currently home to more than two million Syrian refugees.

Eu officials believe that a deal with the Islamic nation is the only way to control European borders and slow down the enormous pressure of migration from the middle East, Asia and Africa.

David cameron took part in talks in Brussels last night to finalise the deal, which will see Britain contribute at least £260million in cash. But opponents claim that Turkey is exploiting the migrant crisis and the threat of terrorism to hold Europe to ransom.

ukip leader nigel Farage called the proposed agreement ‘an act of collective insanity’ that will raise, not lower, the threat of terrorism from Islamic State.

one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up in the Paris terrorist attacks on november 13, Ahmad Almohammad, had travelled to Europe through Turkey using a fake Syrian passport.

The deal will mean Turkey’s 75million citizens being allowed into the border- free Schengen zone, which includes most of mainland Europe but not the UK, as a precursor to quicker steps to full membership of the Eu.

negotiations for Turkey to enter the Eu stalled in 2013. last night the country’s prime minister left no doubt as to what he hoped to get from the agreement. Ahmet Davutoglu said: ‘Today is a historic day in our accession process to the Eu. I am grateful to all European leaders for this new beginning.’

But Eu leaders were keen to play down the accession process and said the talks were primarily about reducing migration.

European council president Donald Tusk said: ‘I have called this summit to decide in the first place what the Eu and Turkey must do together to cope with the migration crisis. our main goal is to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.’

Turkey will be asked to use the £2.1billion being given over two years to step up border controls, tackle people smugglers and re- admit migrants refused entry to an Eu country – which is usually Greece.

The draft agreement that was presented by the Eu to Turkey yesterday left the door open to further grants of cash, which would mean more money from British taxpayers.

mr Farage said: ‘If Eu leaders agree to give Turkey 3billion euro and visafree travel it will be an act of collective insanity pushing more people to oppose Eu membership.

‘Turkey is too big, too poor and too different from us culturally. It is a state with a terrible human rights record run by a dictatorial Islamist president.

‘It is giving free run to IS fighters, weapons and oil. Free Eu visa travel for 75million Turkish citizens is another reason [for Britain] to vote to leave the Eu and take back control of our borders.’

The country’s questionable human rights record, as well as its Islamic heritage, is at odds with many of the western European member states. The once largely secular government has turned more conservative and religious under president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Downing Street sources played down the idea of accession talks with Turkey being fast-tracked. A source pointed out that during a decade of talks, only 14 areas had been debated out of a total of 35, and that accession would be ‘many years away’.