EU should toughen sanctions against Turkey - parliament head Sassoli

The President of the European Parliament David Sassoli called for tougher sanctions of the European Union against Turkey and said Ankara's membership talks with the EU should be suspended because of the Turkish invasion of northern Syria.

"Sanctions should be much tougher and include existing contracts", Sassoli told a news conference in Brussels. Earlier this week EU governments committed not to sign new arms sale deals with Turkey but did not take any action against existing ones.

Sassoli, an Italian center-left politician, also told EU leaders that membership talks with Turkey should be suspended.