Turkey’s EU accession talks should be suspended if the proposed changes to the constitution go ahead, the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee recommended on Tuesday.
"Taking note of the outcome of Turkey’s recent referendum and the expansion of presidential powers, the Foreign Affairs Committee calls on the EU Commission and the EU national governments “to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged," the report says.
Committee MEPs are concerned about Turkey’s backsliding in the rule of law, human rights, media freedom, and the fight against corruption. They condemn the repeatedly declared support for the reintroduction of the death penalty by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which would put into question Turkey’s membership in the Council of Europe and lead to an immediate end of EU accession talks.
