The European parliament has urged governments to freeze EU membership talks with Turkey.
MEPs in Strasbourg voted by 471 to 37 to halt Turkey’s EU accession talks, with politicians from the Conservative group to the Greens lining up to back a resolution that condemned “disproportionate repressive measures” of the Turkish government after a failed military coup in July. In total, 107 MEPs abstained.
The vote is non-binding, but a dramatic step ahead of a crucial meeting of EU ministers next month. Foreign ministers will debate Turkey’s 11-year-old EU membership bid in December, amid growing concern about the crackdown launched by president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following the botched coup, the Guardian reports.