Events

MINSK, 15 November (BelTA) – The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly ratified the Belarusian-Turkish intergovernmental agreement on visa-free travels on 15 November, BelTA has learned.

The agreement will enable Belarus citizens to stay in Turkey for up to 30 days without visas as from the date of entry. Within one year Belarusians will be able to enter Turkey without needing visas but the total duration of their stay cannot exceed 90 days.

Visa-free travels will not be available for work purposes (except for transporting passengers and cargoes), for education trips, research ones, the reunion of families and for residence.

Presenting the bill, Chairman of the International Affairs and National Security Commission of the Council of the Republic Vladimir Senko said that a reliable mechanism to counteract illegal migration will be created at the same time. “The agreement will come into force as soon as the Belarusian-Turkish intergovernmental agreement on readmission does the same. The readmission agreement has been ratified by the House of Representatives of the National Assembly and will soon be forwarded to the Council of the Republic,” said Vladimir Senko.

The senator added that visa-free travels will be a pleasant piece of news not only for Belarus citizens, who prefer recreation in Turkey. He noted that removing visa requirements is important because visa-free travels to Turkey are in effect for all the Customs Union members but Belarus. The MP said he was confident that the removal of visas will contribute to the development of trade and economic cooperation between the countries as well as the development of business contacts since citizens of Turkey and Belarus will be able to travel without visas if they travel for the sake of business negotiations.

The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly also ratified a number of other intergovernmental agreements. Those are the Belarus-Indonesia agreement on cooperation in defense industry, the Belarus-Singapore agreement on removing visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports and service ones. The senators also voted in favor of rating the agreements between the Belarus government and the Indonesia government on avoiding double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion with regard to income taxes. The senators ratified a similar agreement with the Singapore government.

The Council of the Republic of the National Assembly also approved amendments to the Belarus law on the population register.