UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage has unloaded on the European Union’s fast tracking of Turkey’s potential membership, taking fire at the country’s record on migration, ISIS oil trucks, and the British Prime Minister’s insistence on the EU’s expansion to the borders of Syria.
Mr. Farage said he had seen a lot of failures by the European Union, including “the introduction of a currency that’s impoverished the Mediterranean… the idealised Schengen area [leading] to the free movement of kalashnikovs… the attempt to create a single state of Europe which of course the European People’s don’t want”.
“But,” he added, “the EU is common asylum policy is the lowest ebb for policy yet”.
He said: “Chancellor Merkel took the cork out of a champagne bottle,” referring back to an article he wrote for Breitbart London in early November.
“Now you’re trying to put the cork back in and realising it’s not possible so you’ve turned to somebody else to sort out your own problem. So let’s talk Turkey. They have taken your weakness and they’ve now decided they’re going to blackmail you, he said, being one of the only politicians in Britain to raise questions over Turkey’s human rights record, their contributions towards the migration crisis, and indeed the vast sums of European taxpayer money being hurled at the country to try and stem the flow of migrants.
“Not only do they want three billion euros from you this year, they’re going to want three billion euros from you every single year,” said Mr. Farage, picking up on the Turkish Prime Minister’s comments from October, where he told local press: “We spoke of 3 billion euros [$3.4 billion] as ‘fresh money’ but it is not a fixed sum. Our [financial] needs may increase.”
Mr. Farage continued: “They’ve given absolutely no guarantees whatsoever that they will stop people from coming or indeed take people back. And they’ve managed to persuade you, whatever the commissioner says, into offering them by October next year visa-free access for 75 million people whose average GDP income is half that of the poorest EU member state.
“I guess what you’re doing is you’re saying the way will stop illegal immigration is to make it all legal immigration and if that doesn’t take the biscuit, now you’re gonna fast track Turkey to be an EU member.”
And then he unloaded on Turkey’s recent record:
“Let’s just think about that. A country with ninety-seven percent of its land mass in Asia, apparently you want to join Europe. It is a country that appears to be keener on bombing the Kurds that it is on taking on ISIS. It is a country that has turned a complete blind eye to ISIS fighters traveling through its territory. It is a country according to the Pew Institute whose poll last week showed that 8 per cent of those 75 million actively encourage and support the aims of Isis. It is a country directly and closely linked with buying ISIS oil. And we will finish up bordering Syria, Iraq, and Iran. It is mad. It is the most dangerous decision the European Union has yet taken. I’m sure the British Prime Minister will be delighted, he’s campaigned for this since 2005”.
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