Luxembourg's foreign minister is accusing Turkish authorities of using methods reminiscent of those employed by Nazis in a crackdown following July's coup attempt.
Opposition parties in Turkey and human rights groups accuse the government of clamping down on all critics, not just alleged coup plotters.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday that people who've been fired have their names published, have no chance of finding another job and no income, and risk hunger.
Asselborn said: "These are methods, one must say this bluntly, that were used during Nazi rule. And there has been a really, really bad evolution in Turkey since July that we as the European Union cannot simply accept."
He says Turkey's strong economic ties with the EU are "absolutely a means of pressure."
Last week Asselborn met with Turkey's Ambassador Levent Sahinkaya, expressing his concerns about the random arrests of journalists in Turkey as well as the reintroduction of the death penalty.
Asselborn suggested imposing economic sanctions, pointing out that 50 per cent of Turkey's exports go to the EU and 60 per cent of investment in Turkey comes from the bloc.
"At a certain point in time, we won't have any choice but to apply it (sanctions) to counteract the unbearable human rights situation."
Erdogan and government ministers have repeatedly said it is up to Turkey to decide how to respond to the coup attempt, which they accuse US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating through a network of supporters. Gulen has condemned the coup attempt and denied any involvement.
Turkey's EU Minister Omer Celik said Asselborn lacked knowledge of history, and that Ankara's actions should be equated to efforts to "protect democracy during the fight against the Nazis".
"The Nazis are like apprentices when compared with Gulenist terror organisations ... We are talking about an organisation that has massacred its own people with warplanes, tanks, warships and helicopters. Nobody should think that we will take a step back in our fight against them."
Erdogan said on Sunday he did not care if Europe called him a dictator and accused European nations of abetting terrorism by supporting Kurdish militants.