The European Union’s upcoming report on Turkey is expected to present an even bleaker assessment of the country’s democratic decline than last year’s findings, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey said in an interview published Monday, citing growing pressure on the opposition and restrictions on fundamental freedoms.
Nacho Sánchez Amor, a Spanish member of the European Parliament, told the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily that the European Commission’s annual report, expected to be released on October 28, would likely document further deterioration in democratic standards and the rule of law.
He said attacks on opposition parties, democratic pluralism and fundamental freedoms suggested that the assessment would be even more negative than the previous year’s report.
Sánchez Amor said the reports were intended to document developments in countries seeking EU membership rather than lead directly to major political decisions, adding that any action following the assessment would be up to the Council of the European Union, which represents the governments of member states.
The lawmaker said Turkey’s EU membership negotiations, effectively at a standstill since 2018, could not resume under current conditions because of the continued deterioration of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms.
Asked about the recent state takeover of a major opposition television station and ongoing investigations targeting opposition-run municipalities, Sánchez Amor said the developments confirmed that Turkey’s democratic decline was continuing.
He said conditions had already deteriorated significantly when accession negotiations stalled in 2018 and that subsequent developments had provided further evidence of democratic backsliding.
On October 14 Turkish authorities took control of Halk TV, a leading pro-opposition broadcaster, appointing the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) to manage the station and halting its live broadcasts.
Police raided the station’s İstanbul headquarters as part of an investigation into allegations of bribery, bid rigging and money laundering involving its owner, Cafer Mahiroğlu. Mahiroğlu denied the allegations and condemned the takeover as politically motivated.
Press freedom organizations and opposition politicians criticized the operation as an attack on independent journalism.
Sánchez Amor also criticized the European Commission and the Council of the European Union for what he described as their reluctance to confront Turkey’s worsening human rights record.
He said geopolitical considerations had influenced the response of EU institutions responsible for relations with Ankara, while the European Parliament and the European Committee of the Regions had been more outspoken about violations of fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
The rapporteur warned that Turkey’s strategic importance to Europe, particularly in defense and security, would not compensate for its failure to meet democratic standards.
He said Turkey could not use its geopolitical importance to secure EU membership, stressing that accession remained a merit-based process requiring compliance with democratic principles.
Turkey began EU accession negotiations in 2005, but the process has effectively been at a standstill since 2018, when the EU cited democratic backsliding, restrictions on fundamental rights and concerns about judicial independence.
The European Commission’s 2025 assessment identified continued deterioration in the rule of law, fundamental rights and judicial independence. Turkish authorities rejected the criticism as biased and unfounded.
In June the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing Turkey’s human rights record and calling for consideration of sanctions against officials accused of serious violations. The resolution was nonbinding.
Despite the stalled membership process, Turkey remains an important EU partner on migration, trade and regional security.
Sánchez Amor also linked Turkey’s weakening rule of law to economic uncertainty, arguing that political and judicial decisions were undermining confidence in the country’s financial institutions.
An investment fund crisis erupted in Turkey in mid-September when several funds were unable to meet investors’ withdrawal requests amid investigations into suspected market manipulation. The country’s securities regulator ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven companies on September 17. The funds had 455,758 individual investors.
Sánchez Amor said the crisis had exposed serious shortcomings in the ability of state institutions responsible for regulating financial markets to exercise proper oversight. He argued that the deterioration of democracy and the rule of law could not be separated from Turkey’s economic performance.
He also cited the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and the annulment of a congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) as examples of political and judicial decisions that had caused significant financial repercussions.
İmamoğlu, a prominent opposition politician and potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been jailed pending trial since March 2025 on corruption charges that he denies.
