Juncker says no progress on EU ties with Turkey while journalists remain jailed

There will be no progress in diplomatic relations between the EU and Turkey as long as the latter holds journalists in prison, according to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. “Turkey is moving away from its European ambitions of the past and we are going to have to see what kind of progress Turkey makes in the coming months,” he told a news conference in Bulgaria on Friday. “But there will not be any kind of progress while there are journalists in Turkish jails,” Juncker stressed. Authorities in Turkey have jailed more than 50,000 people and shut down some 130 media outlets in the post-coup crackdown, Reuters said. Around 160 journalists have been imprisoned, according to the Turkish Journalists’ Association.