The European Union and Turkey's relationship status has long been listed under the "it's complicated" category. Ankara remains — on paper at least — a candidate for EU membership, and as NATO allies, most EU states and Turkey have pledged to protect each other in case of attack.

In recent years, the EU has accused President Erdogan of overseeing an erosion of democracy and prompting a "standstill" in Turkey's membership bid, but this week Brussels seems to be toning down its criticism of what Amnesty calls "unnecessary and indiscriminate force by security forces against peaceful demonstrators" in Turkey after Erdogan's key political rival was arrested on corruption charges.

And that's likely because for Europe, the context has become more complicated than ever.

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While Turkey's president says the widespread protests — which included clashes with police — are a "movement of violence," France's foreign ministry has branded the incarceration of Istanbul mayor Ekrem........

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