An annual European Union (EU) report dedicated to to assessing Turkey’s progress in ascending to the bloc has evaluated Turkey in light of the mass anti-government protests that rocked the country last May and June.

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdo has violently cracked down on demonstrators, suppressed coverage of the events, restricted even social media coverage, lashed out at critics as conspiracists, instigated counter-protests at the risk of violence, conducted mass arrest sweeps, and in general embraced what critics blasted as a majoritarianism that bordered on authoritarianism.

The E.U. noticed:

The European Union accused Turkish police on Wednesday of using excessive force to quell protests earlier this year, urging the government to strengthen oversight of the police and to press ahead with investigations into their conduct… “The excessive use of force by police and the overall absence of dialogue during the protests in May/June have raised serious concerns,” the European Commission said. “This underlines the urgent need for further reforms and the promotion of dialogue across the political spectrum, and in society more broadly, as well as for respect of fundamental rights in practice,” it said.

The European Commission, which released the report Wednesday, did back a long delayed plan to open a new policy area for talks.

Nonetheless the international community had already months ago reached the point where German Chancellor Angela Merkel was openly suggesting that Ankara’s domestic repression would damage Turkey’s efforts to join the E.U.

[Photo: HumanRightsWatch / YouTube]