Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 21, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Turkey expects a German court to take into consideration the European Court of Justice, or ECJ’s ruling about two Turkish truck drivers, whose access to Germany to provide a service was denied without a visa.
"The ruling is in favor of our claimant citizens. It is possible that the related German court will conclude the case in line with the ECJ’s ruling," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Burak Özügergin said late Thursday.He maintained that the related units were currently making the legal evaluation of the ruling to decide how it will affect the general visa procedure applied to Turkish citizens.
Turkish truck drivers filed a suit in Germany on the grounds the German authorities did not allow them to drive in German territory without a visa, in contravention of an agreement signed between Turkey and the European Economic Community, or EEC, in 1970. The German court requested a preliminary ruling from the ECJ in relation to the subject and the ECJ late Thursday said Turkish people had a right to enter EU countries without a visa in order to provide service.
Turkey’s chief negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bağış defined the ruling as an "important step" which will remove the concerns that EU institutions have a prejudice against Turks and which will establish a mutual partnership.