Turkey foreign minister slams EU commissioner over coup remarks

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Comments from European Union Commissioner Johannes Hahn that Turkey had already compiled a list of judges and others it wanted rounded up before a failed military coup are "unacceptable", Turkey's foreign minister said on Monday. On his Twitter account, Mevlut Cavusoglu also said Turkey would never take a step back from its civil democratic achievements and rule of law. Earlier on Monday Hahn said: "It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage." Such comments were "unacceptable" Cavusoglu tweeted in Turkish. In English he added: "It seems that (Hahn) is far from thoroughly comprehending what is going on in Turkey. Our primary expectation from the EU & our allies is to support the democratic process in Turkey and strongly condemn the coup attempt." Turkish authorities have rounded up thousands of people in the judiciary, police and military since the attempt to topple the government failed on Saturday, sparking fears that President Tayyip Erdogan would use the opportunity to consolidate his power and further stifle dissent. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Gareth Jones)