Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday faced growing EU criticism over an “unacceptable” crackdown that has seen tens of thousands of people detained or sacked, as supporters celebrated the defeat one week ago of the coup aimed at ending his rule.
The authorities imposed a state of emergency on Thursday, strengthening state powers to round up suspects behind the failed military putsch and suspending a key European rights convention.
The European Union urged Turkey “to respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms”, foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a joint statement.
They slammed as “unacceptable” the sacking or suspension of tens of thousands of people in the education system, judiciary and the media and said they were monitoring the state of emergency “with concern”.
