❗️EU warns Turkiye drifting further from membership over LGBTQ+ crackdown

Turkiye is moving further away from its goal of joining the European Union amid recent measures targeting the LGBTQ+ community and restricting media freedoms, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in the northwestern province of Edirne during the opening of an EU-funded railway project, Kos said the bloc had a strong interest in building a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Turkiye in response to "new realities" in Europe. However, she stressed that concerns over democratic standards remained unresolved.

"The latest developments affecting media freedom, the rights of the LGBTQI+ people and local democracy are widening the gap with Turkiye's objective of joining the EU," Kos said.

The EU's annual enlargement report, scheduled for release on 28 October, will reflect "our serious ⁠concerns in these areas", Kos said, adding that she would "not shy away from stating the facts publicly and clearly".