More than 110,000 Turkish citizens visited ten Greece islands last year, through the latter’s visa-on-arrival scheme, according to the Consul General of Greece to Istanbul Ambassador Konstantinos Koutras.
In an interview with Daily Sabah, the Ambassador described the program as “very successful”, Schengen.News reports.
Greece’s fast-track visa scheme allows short-term visits from one to seven days for tourists from Türkiye.
The Ambassador said that in 2024, more than 1.3 million Turkish nationals visited Greece and more than 600,000 Greeks visited Türkiye.
According to him, when looking at the population size of both territories, the number of Greek nationals visiting Türkiye appears to be higher.
Visa-On-Arrival Scheme to Be Extended From Next Month
The Consul General of Greece to Istanbul Ambassador Konstantinos Koutras told Daily Sabah that the scheme is a facilitation program that requires approval from the European Commission and other member states.
So, for us, it was very important to have it approved and we have applied again to reimplement it also this year because the results were almost 100 per cent positive.
Recently, the European Commission decided to extend the program for another year until April 2026while Turkish nationals will now be eligible to visit two more Greek islands after the list of islands has been expanded from ten to 12, to include Patmos and Samothrace.
From April 1, 2025, Turkish nationals will be eligible to visit the following 12 Greek islands:
- Kalymnos
- Kastellorizo
- Kos
- Lesbos (Lesvos)
- Leros
- Limnos
- Rhodes
- Samos
- symimi
- Chios (Hios)
- Patmos
- Samothrace
Over 100,000 Visas Issued Within 7 Months in 2024
The statistics from Greece’s Minister of Shipping, Christos Stylianidis, provided in November last year, revealed that over 100,000 express visas were issued to Turkish tourists from April 1, 2024, until November 2024, with nearly 400,000 Turkish tourists passing through Greek islands in the peak summer season.
According to the statistics from the General Police Directorate of the North Aegean showed that only in three North Aegean islands an additional 54,373 visas were issued until the end of August.
Greece and Türkiye, we are not just neighbours. We are partners, especially in the shipping sector. The two countries are also traditional partners in the International Maritime Organization (IMO), where we have developed a close and productive cooperation. And we have supported each other on various occasions.
In addition, last year, over 1 million Turkish tourists travelled to Greek islands From Türkiye.