Commission warns Turkey against purges of graft investigators

Series Title
Series Details 08.01.14
Publication Date 08/01/2014
Content Type

The Turkish government has purged hundreds of police, among them senior commanders, since a graft scandal erupted on 17 December 2013. The European Commission issued on 8 January 2014 a warning that recent developments in the largest candidate country are a ‘matter of concern’ for the EU executive.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would backtrack on his efforts to curb the powers of the country's judiciary if the constitution was changed.

On the 17 January 2014, the Turkish government removed 20 high-level prosecutors from their posts, in the latest move of the Turkish judicial purge. Mr. Erdogan says the judiciary is embroiled in a plot to undermine him with corruption allegations directed at his allies.

The Turkish prime minister met with EU officials in Brussels on the 21 January 2014 amid this process. Germany said that Turkey’s crackdown on the police and judiciary was putting EU accession talks at risk.

Despite protests from the opposition, the Turkish parliament passed a law that gave the government greater influence over the appointment of judges and public prosecutors on 15 February 2014.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/commission-warns-turkey-purges-g-news-532644
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Blog: ECFR, 08.01.14: Turkey’s democratic woes http://ecfr.eu/blog/entry/turkeys_democratic_woes
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