Kati Piri

A prominent Turkish opposition official was sentenced by a court on Friday to nine years and eight months in prison for insulting the president and spreading terrorist propaganda, a lawmaker from the main opposition party said.

The European Union should formally suspend Turkey's negotiations to join the bloc, EU lawmakers said on Wednesday in a symbolic rebuke of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who Western governments accuse of widespread abuses of human rights.

The EU has made some serious mistakes in its policy on Turkey, EU-Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri told daily Hürriyet on Jan. 24.

 Bulgarian border guards forced Turks living in European countries to pay bribes to be able to enter Turkey, European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said in a report, quoted by Daily Sabah.

According to Piri, Turks traveling to Turkey on land through Bulgaria were forced to bribe the guards, who used "pressure and suppression" tactics.

Bulgarian border security officials have been forcing Turks living in Europe to give bribes while travelling by land through oppression, the European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said in a report submitted to the European Commission on Sept. 4. 

MEPs have adopted plans to suspend accession talks with Turkey should controversial changes to its constitution go ahead. We talked to report author Kati Piri.

The European Union should formally suspend Turkey's long-stalled talks on membership if it adopts constitutional changes backed at a referendum last week, a leading member of the EU parliament responsible for dealings with Ankara said on April 26.

Turkey will close the door on joining the European Union if it adopts constitutional changes backed at a referendum last week, a leading member of the EU parliament responsible for dealings with Ankara said on Wednesday.

The April 16 referendum deciding on Turkey's future resulted in a victory for the "yes" front, with 51.4 percent of the electorate authorizing the government to implement a "Turkish-style" presidential system in the country versus 48.6 percent against it.

The situation in Turkey is worsening on every visit, the European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said Feb. 22 during a visit to daily Cumhuriyet with other EU parliamentarians Elisabetta Pietrobon, Mariska Heijs and Jörgen Siil.