The European Commission has announced the launch of a program aimed at protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms in Turkey. The EC will allocate €4.4 million to “strengthen the capacity’ of human rights defenders.
Vladimir Olenchenko, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, defines such projects as a lever of American pressure on the Turkish government. “I think that in this case the European Commission acts as a conductor of American interests aimed at putting pressure on current political leadership of Turkey, and above all on Erdogan,” he said.