Turkey's EU membership talks could be halted

The European Union is reportedly considering suspending talks with Turkey over its application for membership in the bloc amid the turmoil in the nation.

EU foreign ministers are expected to suggest shelving the talks at a meeting in Brussels on Monday following calls from Austria, Luxembourg and some European lawmakers, due to the scale of Turkey’s post-coup security crackdown.

Such a move would mark a complete U-turn for the EU after it told Ankara eights months ago the process would be sped up in exchange for helping to curb migration to Europe and fighting Islamist militants in the Middle East.

EU diplomats have said they must keep talking to President Tayyip Erdogan to retain his support is reducing migration from its territory.

"Suspending membership talks with Turkey is not formally on the agenda but we expect some ministers to bring this up," an EU official told Reuters of the meeting on Monday.

"It is true some deeply troubling things are happening in Turkey. But you have to ask yourself the question what exactly would we achieve by suspending the process now? How would that help? We need to keep communication channels open."

The news comes after an EU report this week accused Turkey of straying off the path in its efforts to join the bloc following a coup in July.

The coup was attempted against state institutions, including the government and President Erdogan. Ankara has since suspended, dismissed or arrested over 110,000 people including soldiers, judges, teachers, journalists and Kurdish leaders over alleged support of the rebellion.