BERLIN (Sputnik) — Earlier on Monday, Luxembourg’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn said that the European Union could use its influence on Turkey's economy to pressure the country's government into relenting its persecution of the people allegedly linked to the July foiled coup.
"We are not participating in the debates on the sanctions [against Turkey]," Seibert said at a briefing.
He added that Berlin was expecting the EU states to develop a "clear joint position" on Turkey and stressed the importance of a dialogue.
Following the coup attempt in Turkey in July, thousands of people, mostly officials, legal and educational workers, were detained or dismissed over alleged ties to the putsch organizers. The European Union spoke out against what it perceived as multiple cases of human rights abuse by the Turkish government.
