EU sharply criticizes Turkey raising questions over rights and economic policies

There has been "further serious backsliding" in Turkey's judicial system, the European Union said on Wednesday, sharply criticising the country on a range of issues from human rights to economic policy.

In its annual report assessing Turkey's efforts to join the EU, the bloc's executive said free speech was being curtailed and that the government had "negatively affected" financial markets. "Serious backsliding continued in the Turkish economy, leading to deeper concerns over the functioning of the country's market economy," the Commission said in its report.