Tom McGurk: Coup must cool EU expansion ardour

The European Union is at a crossroads, and there are large Turkish tanks rolling across it

Pro-Erdogan supporters rally at Taksim Square in Istanbul last week Picture: Getty/Halit Onur Sandal

Events that began just ten days ago in Turkey have a Stalinist-era echo about them – a state of emergency, martial law and mass arrests. The world is still counting, but at present, 21,000 teachers, 15,000 public servants – including almost 3,000 judges – and 2,000 academics have been arrested or sacked, and a huge number of publications closed down.

The educational and judicial establishments that might have offered some political opposition to ...