£8billion ‘wasted’ on Turkey

THE EU has wasted billions in taxpayer money to help end corruption and political oppression in Turkey, according to a damning report.

The bloc’s own auditors said £8billion in donations, including hundreds of millions from the UK, had had little effect.

The funds, handed over between 2007 and 2020, were intended to prepare Turkey to join the EU. But the report has underlined concerns about political freedom, judicial autonomy and press independence in the country.

The European Court of Auditors said Turkey had brought in ‘repressive’ domestic measures after an attempted coup in 2016 and recommended that funding be ‘better targeted’.

Accession talks have effectively ground to a halt, but Brussels cannot take too harsh a line due to Turkey’s role in stemming Europe’s migration crisis.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to take in more than three million refugees in return for huge payments – with an extra £2.6billion promised yesterday.