Turkey: Taking the European path?

The Turkish government has strongly denounced the July 6 vote at the European Parliament asking the European Commission to halt EU membership negotiations with Ankara.

The vote was already rather ironic, as the negotiations are really only continuing on paper anyway. It is also true that the European Parliament's rulings are not binding for either the European Council or the European Commission. But it is nevertheless important because it reflects the mood in the Strasbourg parliament regarding Turkey. What's more, it was the same parliament that welcomed the start of negotiations with Turkey in 2004 back when hopes were still high. 

Perhaps in order to show that the parliament's decision would not affect their work, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn was in Turkey on the same day. Speaking to reporters, Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik made it clear that stopping the political process with Ankara but continuing cooperation in other areas like migration control or commerce was not going to happen, as it all comes in a package.

The justification for the European Parliament's vote was the deterioration in the quality of democracy and democratic institutions in Turkey. Indeed, rights and freedoms have been restricted due to the state of emergency declared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) right after the military coup attempt on July 15, 2016. 

The EU has long criticized President Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Parti government for jailing politicians, journalists, writers, and sacking tens and thousands of public workers through manipulated court rulings. On the very day of the European Parliament's vote, 12 human rights defenders who were reportedly attending a seminar on "defending human rights in...