The European Commission published its report on Turkey on April 17, 2018 titled ‘The 2018 Turkey Country Report and the Enlargement Strategy Paper’ with inauspicious speculations. The report reasserts that, “Turkey should lift the state of emergency without delay”.[1] According to the report, the un-proportionate measures taken since the attempted coup under the state of emergency for instance, widespread dismissals, arrests, and detentions are the cause of unease. So far, over 150, 000 people were taken into custody, 78 000 were arrested and over 110 000 civil servants were dismissed whilst, according to the authorities, some 40 000 were reinstated of which some 3 600 by decree.[2]
Key recommendations of the Council of Europe and its bodies are yet to be inscribed by Turkey. The report further argues that allegations of wrongdoings need to be established by transparent procedures and on an individual basis. The procedure is standard to outline how candidate countries have advanced in aligning with the European Union’s (EU) political and technical criteria for accession and to chart their paths forward.
