[Sirius]

Turkey visa move suggested by UK diplomat, papers show

A British diplomat suggested visa-free travel for some Turkish nationals should be extended to the UK, documents leaked to The Sunday Times show.

She suggested the move be considered for Turkish "special passport" holders, who are mainly civil servants.

The EU backed Turks getting visa-free travel inside Europe's Schengen area, as a deal for accepting more migrants.

But the UK home and foreign secretaries said any suggestion of changing visa arrangements were "completely untrue".

The leaked telegrams, sent on 5 May by Janet Douglas, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Ankara relate to the EU's own visa deal, planned as recompense for Turkish help dealing with the Syrian migrant crisis.

The deal, to allow visa-free travel to Schengen countries, was offered in return for Turkey taking back migrants who crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece. The EU fears that, without it, Turkey will not control migration.

Pro-Brexit ex-cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said the documents showed Prime Minister David Cameron was involved with the European Commission in "an appalling deceit" to keep the prospect secret until after the EU referendum vote on 23 June.

He said: "They say nothing is happening about Turkey, but this shows they are already making official plans to allow visa free access for Turkish citizens.

"The attempt to hide this, and to delay key decisions until after the referendum, is cynical in the extreme."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politic...endum-36510009