Turkey was one of the first few members to join the Council of Europe in 1950. Since the 1963 Ankara Agreement, relations between Turkey and the European Union were improving and in 1987, Turkey applied for membership to the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union. The negotiations for accession are still ongoing, but have come to a standstill in recent years after president Erdogan's crackdown on supporters of the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the presidential powers created by the and Turkey's path to a more autocratic form of government. Although Turkey is not a member of the EU, have been implemented based on the Ankara Agreement. 