EU to meet with Turkey's Erdogan to mend fences

European Union leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will seek a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the sidelines of the May 25 NATO summit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that after talks with EU Council President Tusk, the EU would make another effort to narrow the rift with candidate nation Turkey, the Daily Progress reports.

The EU and Turkey have seen relations dip to their lowest point in years in the weeks surrounding the April 16 Turkish referendum. The EU has complained that since the attempted coup last year, Erdogan has suppressed dissent and arrested tens of thousands of people accused of being involved with the attempted coup with far too heavy a hand.

Erdogan has also said he wants to re-establish the death penalty, seen as a move that would scuttle any hopes of reinvigorating the EU membership talks.