Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, told journalists in Edirne on 9 October that the European Union retains “serious concerns” about democratic standards in Türkiye.

“Our concerns about democratic standards remain,” she said. “The latest developments affecting media freedom, the rights of LGBTIQ+ people and local democracy are widening the gap with Turkey’s objective of joining the EU.”

The Commission’s annual enlargement report, due on 28 October, “will reflect our serious concerns in these areas”, Kos said. “And I will also not shy away from stating the facts publicly and clearly.”

The three areas she named are the three in which the past month has produced the most documented material. On media freedom, the Freedom of Expression Association recorded at least 1,270 X accounts blocked in September, of which only 115 were covered by a court decision; the entire T24 news website was blocked on 29 September; bianet’s account followed on 30 September, by a decision still unserved a week later; and the association’s own account and that of its monitoring project were blocked on 1 and 5 October. On LGBTIQ+ rights, the T24 order cited 118 items the prosecution characterised as “LGBT propaganda”, and the Council of Europe’s anti-torture Committee published a report on 6 October recording that prisoners at Antalya L-type Prison who declared themselves gay were held in conditions akin to solitary confinement for up to six months while awaiting a hospital certificate.

Kos made the remarks at the opening of the Çerkezköy–Kapıkule section of the Halkalı–Kapıkule high-speed railway, an EU-funded project forming part of the rail corridor to Bulgaria, alongside Türkiye’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu. At the same event she said that EU–Türkiye trade, worth €218 billion last year, could exceed €400 billion, and raised the modernisation of the customs union.

She also set out the case for closer ties. The EU has “a strong interest in developing a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Turkey, that reflects the new realities in Europe”, she said, describing the need as driven by “hard facts” and citing recent drone attacks on shipping in the Black Sea. She recalled having called in February for the Union to reassess the relationship “with fresh eyes”. Closer ties would also depend on Türkiye’s relations with neighbouring member states, which she called “essential”.

Accession negotiations opened in 2005 and have been stalled for years. In August President Erdoğan said EU membership was no longer a priority, while not ruling it out. Ankara says its recent policies are aimed at protecting family values and public order.

The concerns were stated at the opening of a railway the European Union paid for.