Turkey’s executive presidency incompatible with EU criteria - Hoofdinhoud

“Sweeping new powers and an enhanced role for the Turkish president, will place too much power in one person’s hand. The executive presidency lacks sufficient checks and balances and is therefore incompatible with EU membership. As a result, formal suspension of EU accession talks has become unavoidable”, says European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri.

“The snap elections were held under a state of emergency, with biased media coverage and an unfair level-playing field. However, the results have shown that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan still is the most popular politician in the country.”

“The high voter turnout underlines the populations’ commitment to exercise their democratic rights and Turkey’s political opposition has shown its strong resilience during the campaign, which is admirable. This provides a strong base for democratic change in Turkey. For the EU, it is important to take into account that President Erdoğan is not the only counterpart and we have to continue our support to civil society.”

“Thousands of people are awaiting a fair trial in Turkey. Hopefully, President Erdogan fulfils his electoral promises to lift the state of emergency and return to the rule of law.”