ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Thursday that there would be no change in the country's anti-terrorism laws – a key condition of a visa-free travel agreement between the EU and Turkey.
"We once again reiterated that we cannot make an adjustment to the anti-terror laws due to the circumstances that we face today," he told a joint news conference with European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Ankara.
Yildirim said the anti-terror law is a matter of Turkey's security as well as the Europe's fight against terrorism.
Both Yildirim and Schulz pointed to Europe and Turkey’s difference of opinion on anti-terrorism practices.
Schulz said there has been no progress towards the visa-free travel deal due to these differences, while Yildirim stressed that "flexibility in anti-terror laws is out of the question."
He added, "We believe our European friends can understand us."