Whilst speaking out against the attempted coupin Turkey, the members of the European Parliament expressed concern, during a debate at the plenary session in Strasbourg, at the rule of law situation in that country, in reference to the purges that followed the attempt.
"The situation worries us", Kati Piri of the Netherlands, who is also the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, summed up in behalf of the S&D. She went on to say that she struggled to see the link between journalists and those responsible for the coup or even the reason to replace elected mayors with official representatives. "Turkish democracy has an opportunity to come out of this situation stronger if it accepts the plurality of the media, by working with all political forces in favour of the necessary reforms and with the rule of law as a key to bring those responsible for the coup d'état to justice", she added. Justice was also highlighted by Rebecca Harms (Greens/ALE, Germany), who argued that the EU must ensure that the judiciary finds those responsible for the putsch. "The legal action must be proportionate; however, from what we have seen it is no longer proportionate, it is no longer anything to do with the rule of law", she said.
Germany's Elmar Brock, on behalf of the EPP, said that a close eye should be kept on the application of the state of emergency and the monitoring mission of the Council of Europe would be very important. "We must avoid giving the impression (to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Ed) that he can continue on this highly undemocratic path", said Takis Hadjigeorigiou (GUE/NGL, Cyprus). Greek unaffiliated MEP Georgios Epitideios said that with the coup, "Erdogan has become a dictator in his country, whilst externally, he passes for a defender of liberties".
On behalf of the ECR, Charles Tannock of the UK said that although Turkey has suffered an attempted coup and threats to its security, this does not give it carte blanche "to arrest and sack all political opponents" and use violence against the Kurdish populations. This point of view was shared by Italian EFDD member Fabio Massimo Castaldo: "Turkey, on the pretext of fighting terrorism, is throwing a whole load of people who have nothing to do with terrorism into prison". "What should we do? When will we call into question this accession, which is a complete failure. Erdogan has become the law of rule rather than the rule of law. Europe must not give in to Turkish blackmail", he said.
Other MEPs also took position in favour of halting the accession talks. "We have to admit one thing, the accession process has failed. It's stalemate (…). It's time to show each other respect and replace the accession process with another process", argued Alexander Graf Lambdorff (ALDE, Germany). "We need to talk firmly and frankly to Turkey. To do so, we have to stop the accession negotiations, otherwise your (sic) Parliament will legitimise false hopes and support this satrap, Erdogan", said French ENL member, Jean-Luc Schaffhauser. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)