The EU Parliament on Wednesday urged a halt to plans for Türkiye’s accession into the EU, stating that the country has failed to address major democratic shortcomings and silenced dissident voices.
Members of the EU Parliament (MEPs) have cited fears that Türkiye is well on its way to becoming an authoritarian state after politically motivated attacks on opposing political figures such as Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. İmamoğlu, the national favorite to be President Erdoğan’s successor, was imprisoned and had his undergraduate diploma stripped, effectively eliminating him from running for office. European Parliament’s Türkiye rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, stated, “Membership is about democracy, and the further they [the Turkish government] push towards a full authoritarian model—as observed recently with Ekrem İmamoğlu’s arrest—the further they move away from EU membership.”
Additionally, President Erdoğan’s recent illegal visit to the occupied regions of the Republic of Cyprus, accompanied by his “provocative statements,” has also received condemnation from MEPs. Türkiye’s longstanding turbulent relationship with Cyprus goes back to 2019, when the European Parliament acknowledged this issue after Turkey expressed its intent to build the Akkuyu nuclear plant, which has raised alarm about the potential risks to Cyprus in the event of a nuclear accident, given Cyprus’s proximity to Türkiye.
For a country to successfully become a member of the EU, it must meet the prerequisites outlined under the Copenhagen criteria, which include political criteria, rather the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy and the rule of law, and economic criteria, specifically a functioning market economy. Besides this, there must be the administrative capacity to properly implement the acquis, which includes the body of common obligations binding on EU member states.
Türkiye’s possible non-compliance with the first prerequisite, which is the political criteria, makes it an unsuitable candidate for EU membership. Türkiye’s record of violating basic rights such as the right to a fair trial, enshrined under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), was highlighted in the recent case of Mustafa Aydin v. Türkiye. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that the trial court had not conducted due diligence in acknowledging the applicant’s claims on the lack of substantive reasoning, leading to Türkiye being found liable.
Although Türkiye has a history of multi-party elections and a democratic system, the years since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 2023 election win that afforded him another five-year term in office have seen a worrying increase in restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the country, alongside legally baseless convictions of human rights defenders.
This latest development by the EU Parliament comes amid Türkiye’s more than decade-long attempt to successfully become an EU member state, going back to the first round of negotiations beginning in 2005. Previously, the European Parliament’s Türkiye rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor expressed worry that the erosion of fundamental human rights in Türkiye was no longer the main focus, stating that the EU had adopted a transactional approach with an interest in migration and regional security issues.
