Travel to Turkey, VISA-free!

Monday 31st of January 2022

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, held official talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the 30th of January, 2022.

During the discussions between the two Ministers, Minister Çavuşoğlu accepted the proposal by Minister Shahid to establish a visa-free regime between Maldives and Türkiye. This will allow Maldivians to travel to Turkiye without obtaining a visa before the visit, and increase people-to-people contact between the Maldives and Turkiye.

During the ceremony held to sign five key agreements with the Turkish government, Shahid said that currently, Maldivians had to obtain an e-VISA before entering Turkey.

"The Turkish government has agreed to this, and Maldivians will be able to travel to Turkey without a visa," Shahid said.

Other agreements which were signed included areas of trade, agriculture, the environment, foreign service, and heritage.

As relations between the Maldives and Turkey are strengthening, currently, Turkey is home to a large number of Maldivians.

As mentioned before, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu arrived on the invitation of Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, last Friday. This is the first-ever official visit by the foreign minister of turkey to the Maldives.