A STATEMENT from the Home Office about the changes to the Ankara Agreements also came from Sir Dominick Chilcott, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Ankara.
Ambassador Chilcott published a video recording on social media and tried to answer questions in the minds of those who are considering and doing the Ankara Agreement. Chilcott’s speech in Turkish is as follows:
“Many of you will have followed the recent press reporting – not all of it accurate – about a court decision in the UK relating to the Ankara Agreement. I wanted to set out the UK’s official position.”
THE AGREEMENT IS STILL CONTINUING
“The most important point to clarify is that the European Community Association Agreement, also known as the Ankara Agreement, remains in place.
Turkish business persons and their dependents can continue to apply to live in the UK under this agreement, for up to 3 years at a time, if they meet the requirements connected to setting up a business in the UK.”
THE DECISION IS FROM THE COURT
“What has happened is that a British court – not the government – has clarified what the Ankara Agreement says. The court has decided that the process by which Turkish nationals were converting a 3 year business visa into permission to remain in the UK for as long as they liked was not provided for under the agreement.”
THE DECISION GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH BREXIT
“Two important details: Firstly, this decision came into effect on 16 March and will not affect those people who applied prior to this date. Secondly, this decision is unrelated to Brexit, the UK’s future exit from the EU.
As I said, it is simply a technical amendment resulting from a court decision over how the agreement, as it stands, should be correctly interpreted.”
VISA FOR 3 YEARS
“To repeat: Turkish business persons and their dependents can continue to apply to set up a business and to live in the UK under this agreement, for up to 3 years at a time. After 3 years, they can apply to stay for another 3 years and so on and so forth. Our commercial partnership and the bilateral trade between our two countries matter enormously to the UK government. We very much value the contribution of Turkish business persons running businesses in the UK. The Ankara Agreement continues to be an important means for Turkish business people to come and invest in the UK.”
WE ASKED LOCAL MP’s
We asked the MP’s in parts of London where Turkish people live on Ankara agreement about the changes to the applications for indefinite stay. We asked them to evaluate the decision taken by more than 30 voters, how these changes will be effecting those who are living in their constituency’s and we asked them the, whether they would be taking this to parliament. With automated response systems, respondents who reply to us say they will answer our questions as soon as they have the opportunity. We have not had a reply form any of the MP”s as of yet.
SIGNATURE CAMPAIGNS
Following the announcement made by the Home Office, there was a huge question arising. As social media debates continued, some people launched a petition to collect signature on the internet sites of the British Parliament. If the campaigns signed by 100,000 people the petition will then be considered for debate by parliament.
