RIGA - Latvian and Turkish representatives will sign an agreement on easing visa requirements on June 26, thereby allowing citizens of Latvia to travel to Turkey without visas.
The agreement will be signed by the Latvian Foreign Ministry''s secretary of state Normans Penke and his Turkish counterpart Ali Tuygan.
Under the agreement, Turkey will allow Latvian citizens to visit their country without visas if they stay for up to 30 days. Visa requirements for Turkish citizens traveling to Latvia will also be eased, including the holders of Turkey's diplomatic, service and special passports, as well as those with Latvian diplomatic and service passports.
In accordance to the new provisions, businessmen, as well as truck and bus drivers from Turkey will be able to receive Latvian visas with up to a one-year validity term within two days' time.
Turkish students who travel to Latvia to take part in EU educational programs such as Socrates, Leonardo Da Vinci and Erasmus will be issued visas at the request of respective Latvian educational institutions.
Until now, the Latvian-Turkish visa regime was regulated by a bilateral agreement on lifting the visa requirement for the holders of diplomatic passports. Until now, Latvians had to apply for visas to travel to Turkey.
