BRUSSELS bigwigs will open membership talks with Turkey NEXT WEEK, despite David Cameron promising voters a completion of a deal would be DECADES away in a bid to urge Britons to back a Remain vote.
Less than 48 hours before Thursday's historic EU referendum it emerged EU members will meet with Ankara on June 30 to discuss a host of affairs including finance and budget.
It comes after the 28-nation bloc pledged to speed up Turkey’s membership talks as part of a controversial agreement to tackle the migrant crisis.
David Cameron was accused of "lying" last night after Brussels sources indicated that talks about Turkey joining the EU will reopen next week.
Diplomatic insiders said a "new chapter" in negotiations on Turkish membership of the bloc is due to start in Brussels once Britain's EU referendum is over.
Throughout the campaign for today's EU referendum, the Prime Minister has attempted to dismiss fears that millions of Turkish citizens could soon get free movement rights to live anywhere in the bloc.
He repeated his remarks yesterday, claiming Turkey was unlikely to be admitted into the EU within the next thousand years.
In an inteview on LBC Radio on the eve of the crunch vote, Mr Cameron said: "The issue simply isn't going to arise. As I have said, this is the reddest of red herrings.
"At the current rate of progress, Turkey could qualify to join in about the year 3000.
"You have to open and close 35 chapters of negotiation. They've opened and closed one.
"People who want us to leave want to pretend this is about to happen any time soon. It isn't.
"This is something that could be the case in decades to come. And so I don't want to give it any credence because there is no credence for it."
But an EU diplomatic source undermined his claim, saying the EU will open new membership talks with Turkey as planned in a few days.
The source said officials from EU nations will meet Turkish counterparts next Thursday to open a new negotiating chapter.
The latest announcement will fuel fears EU officials are trying to keep any visa deal with Turkey secret until after the historic referendum.
Turkey’s membership of the bloc has been a hot topic of the Brexit debate as critics press Mr Cameron on whether he would use Britain’s right to veto their entry or not.
Brexit supporters have said the UK faces the arrival of millions of Turks if it chose to stay in the EU.
However, the Prime Minister said there is no prospect of Turkey becoming a member anytime soon.
His comments came after audience member Michael Tindale asked Mr Cameron if he would “veto the accession of Turkey into the EU”.
The Prime Minister, who has been a long-time supporter of Turkey joining the union, brushed off concerns, replying: “I don't think it's going to happen for decades, so as far as I'm concerned the question doesn't arise."
Turkey has been negotiating for membership for more than a decade.
The EU promised to allow Turks visa-free travel for stays lasting up to three months to the bloc’s Schengen area, of which the UK is not a member.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith angrily accused Mr Cameron of attempting to mislead voters.
"David Cameron has repeatedly claimed that Turkey is not going to join the EU despite it being government policy," said Mr Duncan Smith.
"Now the Turkish government has confirmed that he is the 'chief supporter' of their bid to join the EU.
"I'm afraid there is no conclusion you can draw from this, except that David Cameron is colluding with the EU and lying to the British people.
"Families are suffering the consequences of uncontrolled migration - a direct result of the EU's obsession with freedom of movement."
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: "With net migration already at record high levels it is clear if we Remain inside EU that numbers will only get higher as the likes of Turkey join the EU.
"The only way we can control migration and bring down numbers to sensible levels will be if we Leave the European Union.
"We must seize this golden opportunity."
Leave campaigners have warned that Turkey's overwhelmingly Muslim population of nearly 80million could all get the right to live anywhere in the EU including Britain if the country is admitted to the bloc.
It comes as Turkey’s foreign minister waded into the debate head first saying Britain must stay in the bloc “under any circumstances”.
In a bizarre outburst yesterday, a senior adviser to the Turkish president said Turks would not "flood" to Britain to eat "chocolate".
Ilnur Cevik, who is close to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticised both David Cameron for "taking us for a ride" by indicating he supported the country joining the EU and the Leave campaign for using the prospect as "an alibi" for Brexit.
He said Turkey was "deeply hurting" now that the Prime Minister has indicated he is unlikely to support its EU membership after Brexit campaigners used the potential accession to warn that it could open Britain's borders to millions of Turks.
But responding to the Leave campaign's claims that could mean more Turkish criminals in the UK, Mr Cevik told BBC Two's Newsnight: "Firstly, the crime rate is not high.
"Secondly, there's no extraordinary situation in this country that we would export anything to Britain.
"But besides that, who's going to come to Britain? Why should we be flooding Britain? There's no reason.
"Whatever exists in Britain also exists in Turkey.
"We are not going to go over there just because you produce Cadbury chocolates and Maltesers, for God's sake."
On the Brexit campaign, he said: "They should not use us as an alibi, they should not use us as a pretext, they should really deal with the nitty-gritty of why they should be leaving."
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey “desires Britain to stay in the EU under any circumstances.
He added: "Britain’s exit would certainly have a negative impact.”
Mr Cameron has previously been a strong supporter of Ankara’s struggles to join the EU.
Just two years ago, Mr Cameron himself, said: “In terms of Turkish membership of the EU, I very much support that.”
And in 2010 the Prime Minister urged France and Germany not to shut them “out of the club” in 2010.
Turkey applied for membership in 1987 and began accession talks with Brussels in 2005.
For Turkey to qualify it will have to fulfil the criteria set out in the accession treaty between Turkey and the European Commission.
The accession treaty sets conditions Turkey must meet before member states vote to decided on its entry.
All 28 member states must agree unanimously.
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