Turkish shoe polisher wins visa lawsuit against England

Metin Ali Kalkan, who has been making his living polishing shoes for six years in Mersin, applied for a British visa eight months ago at İstanbul's British Consulate. The consulate denied his visa application without citing any reasons. Kalkan, whose older brother is living in London, contacted lawyer Hakan Camuz and filed a lawsuit in a British court. The British court found the British government's denial of the visa to Kalkan to be wrongful. Kalkan was applying for a business visa with a 500 sterling investment. According to the Ankara Agreement of 1963 and the Additional Protocol, which came into force in January 1973, Turkish nationals can freely travel to several EU member states without visas if their goal is to provide services. Turks who previously filed complaints on visa regulations against several EU member states, particularly Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, in European Court of Justice (ECJ) won these cases. The Additional Protocol clearly states that the signatories agree to "refrain from introducing between themselves any new restrictions on the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services." Camuz told reporters that even a shoe polisher can apply to open a business in a European Union member state.