Turkish PM Says EU Deal Opens New Era

Turkish PM Recep Erdogan welcomed the signing of the Readmission Agreement with the EU. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the deal with the EU a "milestone" and a new era in Tureky-EU relations.

"We are not coming to become a burden, but to help with it. The visa requirements should have been removed long ago. The fact that they haven't been removed yet has only harmed the European Union," Erdogan said, quoted by the Hurriyet Daily.

On Monday, Turkey and the EU signed a refugee Readmission Agreement, in return for a visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in three years' time.

Erdogan added that Turkey was no longer a country that people "escaped from, but one that people returned to."

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