Turkey political tension leaves EU in dilemma

The European Union is in a dilemma over how to respond to worsening political tension in Turkey, which is shaking political and financial stability in its largest and most difficult candidate country.

The prospect of the Constitutional Court banning the ruling AK party and barring Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan from office for alleged Islamist subversion has revived debate on whether Turkey is fit to become an EU member.

A wave of arrests including former generals and journalists over an alleged coup plot has also sharpened concerns about the role of the military, and in some quarters about human rights.