Several far-right European parties that oppose Turkish membership in the European Union said Saturday they will push for an EU referendum on the subject, AP reports.<\/p>\n
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Turkey began accession talks in 2005, but has made little progress, due mostly to a dispute over Cyprus \u2014 an EU member that is divided between the ethnic Greek south and Turkish north.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Austrian Freedom Party chief Heinz-Christian Strache and members of Belgium’s nationalist Flemish Interest Party, the Sweden Democrats and the Danish People’s Party, among others, said Turkey has no place in Europe and that citizens should be allowed to weigh in on the matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We are all simply of the firm opinion that Europe would go dramatically astray if one starts taking in non-European countries as members,” Strache said. “It would be the end of the European Union, it would be the beginning of a Euro-Asian-African union that would stand in complete opposition to the European peace project and therefore can’t be allowed to happen.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Turkish EU membership is a divisive issue in Europe, with leaders of key states such as Germany and France among those expressing reservations about it. But Britain, Italy and Spain have supported the mostly Muslim country’s EU bid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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