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Turkey ‘losing hope’ for EU visa-free deal

The Turkish minister for European Union affairs has told the BBC he is losing hope of getting a deal on visa-free travel for Turks within Europe.

Volkan Bozkir said changing anti-terror laws in Turkey would be impossible.

The EU insists that Turkey needs to narrow its definition of terrorism – as well as meet four other key criteria – to qualify for visa-free travel.

It is part of a larger agreement between the two sides aimed at easing Europe’s migration crisis.

On Wednesday, Mr Bozkir told the BBC that his hopes of getting visa-free travel for Turkish nationals were “getting less and less”.

He admitted that the negotiations had reached a crucial phase, stressing that Turkey had already done enough.

His comments came after a day of meetings with senior members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

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