‘Leave us ALONE’ Turkey slaps down Brussels bureaucrats over press freedom complaints
TURKEY has blasted the European Union after a Brussels bureaucrat criticised Ankara for sacking more than 10,000 civil servants and closing 15 media outlets.
Turkey has told the EU to 'leave us alone' after complaints over press freedom
Prime minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey doesn’t care about European ParliamentPresident Martin Schulz ridiculing their regulations.
Schulz slammed the arrest of editor in chief for Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, Murat Sabuncu, on Monday.
Binali Yildirim blasted the Brussels bureaucrat for meddling in Turkey's business
The bureaucrat tweeted: “The detention of Murat Sabuncu and other #Cumhuriyet journalists is yet another red-line crossed against freedom of expression in #Turkey.”
He called Ankara’s actions part of a “purge, motivated by political considerations, rather than legal and security rationale".
But Yildirim fired back at the EU, saying: "Brother, we don't care about your red line. It's the people who draw the red line. What importance does your line have. We draw another red line on top of yours.”
Upon your line, we will draw a line ourselves
The Turkish prime minister said his country would not be intimidated by the EU’s “threats”.
He added: "We are not going to learn from you what press freedom is. We support it all the way.
"Our European friends always bring up press freedom when we take steps in our fight against terrorism.
“Upon your line, we will draw a line ourselves. Leave this alone.”
So far, more than 100,000 people have already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 detained following the failed coup on July 15, which left more than 300 people dead.
Teachers, health workers, prisons guards and forensic experts are among those who have been sacked over the suspected links, with the official decrees for their removal being published in Turkey’s Official Gazette last month.
Editor in chief for Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, Murat Sabuncu was recently arrested
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed he will ask parliament to consider reintroducing the death penalty as a punishment for the plotters behind the failed military coup.
Capital punishment was abolished in Turkey in 2004, as the state tried to gain access to the European Union.