BRUSSELS (AP) The European Commission on Wednesday criticized Turkey for what it calls "an uncompromising stance" against dissent and a failure to protect fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and assembly.
In a long-awaited report on Turkey's progress toward gaining EU membership, the bloc's executive arm stressed the country can't rely alone on the rule of the majority but must seek to include minorities, respect and defend their rights.
Turkey's tough stance on dissenting opinion became obvious earlier this year "when police used excessive force in response to a major wave of protests," the commission said.
The protests began in May and quickly turned into widespread demonstrations against the heavy-handed crackdown and against conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian ways after a decade in power.
The commission said Turkey's political climate had become polarized and that "this translated into an understanding of democracy as relying exclusively on parliamentary majority, rather than a participative process in which all voices are heard, and finally in an uncompromising stance in the face of dissent and a failure to protect fundamental rights and freedoms."
