After a five-year hiatus, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will start a visit to Brussels on Jan. 21 upon the invitation of European Council President Herman van Rompuy in an attempt to boost Turkey’s European Union application. The visit has been scheduled to keep the momentum going after the EU’s General Affairs Council agreed in October — after a three-year freeze — to open a new chapter in the accession process, and after the sides agreed in December on the principles of a visa liberalization timeline. This occurred before Turkey's graft probe became public on Dec. 17. 

Since the corruption scandal broke into the open, Erdogan has hit back sharply by removing and reassigning about 2,000 police officers and a dozen prosecutors who were directly or indirectly involved in the probe. Erdogan has also attempted to make changes in the constitution, thus creating an image problem — both domestically and internationally — that the government is trying to cover up corruption and bribery. In October, the EU's Turkey progress report had drawn attention to the country's deteriorating human rights record, particularly concerning Erdogan’s response to the May-June Gezi Park protests. The report stated that Erdogan’s method of governance poses a problem as it has increased the country's polarization instead of being constructive.

“This translated into an understanding of democracy as relying exclusively on a 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. This was exemplified in late May and early June, when police used excessive force in response to a major wave of protests,” the European Commission said in the report. “The excessive use of force by police and the overall absence of dialogue during the protests in May/June have raised serious concerns.” The report added, “This underlines the urgent need for further reforms and promotion of dialogue across the political spectrum, and in society more broadly, as well as for respect of fundamental rights in practice.”

The troubles did not stop in June. Police use of excessive force continues to be a problem; such incidents have been occurring a few times a week since. People’s attempts to exercise their right to assemble and express their opinions have been met by police violence almost every time. For example, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd that gathered at Taksim Square in Istanbul to protest the government’s new draft bill to restrict access to certain websites and to keep a log of all web users — as if Big Brother is watching and recording them, violating their privacy.