Kati Piri

The European Union should formally suspend Turkey's negotiations to join the bloc, EU lawmakers said on Wednesday in a symbolic rebuke of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who Western governments accuse of widespread abuses of human rights.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Jan. 29 lashed out at the European Parliament’s Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri over her recent remarks about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) “not being a threat.”

Turkish EU Minister Ömer Çelik on Jan. 28 criticized the European Parliament’s Turkey Rapporteur Kati Piri over her recent remarks about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) “not being a threat.”

The EU has made some serious mistakes in its policy on Turkey, EU-Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri told daily Hürriyet on Jan. 24.

 Bulgarian border guards forced Turks living in European countries to pay bribes to be able to enter Turkey, European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said in a report, quoted by Daily Sabah.

According to Piri, Turks traveling to Turkey on land through Bulgaria were forced to bribe the guards, who used "pressure and suppression" tactics.

Bulgarian border security officials have been forcing Turks living in Europe to give bribes while travelling by land through oppression, the European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said in a report submitted to the European Commission on Sept. 4. 

MEPs have adopted plans to suspend accession talks with Turkey should controversial changes to its constitution go ahead. We talked to report author Kati Piri.

The European Union should formally suspend Turkey's long-stalled talks on membership if it adopts constitutional changes backed at a referendum last week, a leading member of the EU parliament responsible for dealings with Ankara said on April 26.

The situation in Turkey is worsening on every visit, the European Parliament's Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri said Feb. 22 during a visit to daily Cumhuriyet with other EU parliamentarians Elisabetta Pietrobon, Mariska Heijs and Jörgen Siil. 

The European Parliament will vote on a resolution on Thursday that suggests temporarily freezing Turkey's accession talks in the light of an increase in the violations of human rights and the deterioration in the use of fundamental freedoms in the aftermath of July 15 coup attempt. The EP's Turkey rapporteur, Kati Piri, clearly stated the mood of European lawmakers in a comprehensive interview