ANKARA, Turkey — In a 2013 deal with Turkey, the European Union had offered Turkish citizens the prospect of visa-free travel on the condition that Ankara met 72 criteria on democratic rights, especially the freedoms of thought and expression, the judiciary, civic society, economic transparency and combating corruption.

Visa-free travel for Turkish citizens was also a key issue in the refugee deal Turkey and the EU signed in March 2016. Ankara was supposed to meet all of the criteria by the end of that June, but failed to do so. The EU said seven criteria remained outstanding, criticizing Ankara for its broad definition of terrorism, which infringed on the freedoms of thought and expression. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was infuriated. In a speech on May 6, 2016, he said Turkey remained under the threat of terrorism and slammed European authorities for tolerating exiled supporters of the armed Kurdistan Workers Party, considered a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community. “We're going our way, you go yours,” he declared.

In July that year, a botched coup attempt resulted in the declaration of a state of emergency, which is still ongoing. The aftermath of the putsch saw a ferocious crackdown on oppositional quarters marked by mass purges at public institutions and universities and the arrest of dozens of journalists, academics, politicians and parliament members. The crackdown plunged Turkey-EU relations to a new low.

Yet Erdogan seems to realize that the political and economic price of breaking up with the EU is growing bigger. He has taken up the issue of EU membership anew, including during recent trips to France and Italy, amid growing talk of normalizing ties with the EU. On Feb. 7, Turkey submitted documents to the European Commission, saying it had fulfilled the outstanding criteria for the visa waiver. “The ball is now in the EU’s court,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.