Der Spiegel on Turkey, visa freedom and the big prize:

'Until late in the evening, the visit had gone unusually harmoniously. The meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission Deputy President Frans Timmermans with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Gaziantep felt almost like a family get-together. Davutoglu even brought a cake for Tusk, who had celebrated his birthday the previous day. But at 10 p.m., the conversation turned to the EU liberalization of its visa policy for Turkey. Timmerman asked for understanding: "We as the Commission have to prove that you have fulfilled all the conditions," he said. Otherwise there would be problems with EU member states and the European Parliament.'

(...)

'The deal with Turkey, negotiated by Chancellor Merkel, envisions the introduction of visa-free travel for Turkish nationals by the end of June if all goes according to plan. At that point, any Turkish citizen will have the right to travel to the EU and remain here for up to 90 days at a time without needing a visa. If it approves the provision, this would mark the first time the EU has ever made such a recommendation without requiring that all the conditions first be met. In other words, Turkey is in fact being given allowances, despite all claims to the contrary. In March, Merkel had assured that, "The Turks must fulfill all conditions, there will be no exceptions." EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker seconded her in April: "The criteria will not be watered down in the case of Turkey." But so far it hasn't yet.

For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visa-free travel is the big prize. To secure it, he has even threatened to allow the refugee deal with the EU to collapse, meaning that Turkey would no longer prevent refugees from making the journey across the Aegean Sea to Greece and the EU. He gave Europe a choice: either the refugees or visa-free travel.'

Read the article here.

If visa-free travel is the big prize for Erdogan, he will wring this prize from the EU, with diplomatic or less diplomatic threats.