EU officials call for halting Turkey accession talks
EU parliamentarians have called on the European Union to halt Turkey membership negotiations over Ankara’s post-coup crackdown.
"Our message to Turkey is very clear: accession negotiations should be frozen immediately," said Manfred Weber, the head of the center-right European People's Party, which is the European Parliament’s largest faction.
Moreover, Gianni Pittella, the head of parliament's second biggest faction, the socialist group, said "We want to freeze the accession talks."
Ankara has dismissed over 110,000 people, including judges, prosecutors, soldiers, and reporters, whom it accuses of involvement in the failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July. It has also arrested around 36,000 people.
"Turkey under Erdogan is more and more drifting towards an authoritarian regime," Pittella said. "Our political message towards Turkey is that human rights, civil rights, democracy are non-negotiable if you want to be part of the EU,” he added.
Turkey has been attempting to become part of the EU since the 1960s. Formal EU accession negotiations began in 2005. But the process has been mired in problems, and only 16 chapters of the 35-chapter accession procedure have been opened for Ankara so far.
The coup began when a faction of the military declared it was in control of the country and the government of Erdogan was no more in charge.
Tanks, helicopters, and soldiers clashed with police and people on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. Between 200 and 300 people were killed on all sides in the attempted coup d’état.
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