Sarkozy opposes Turkey's EU entry, seeks referendum - Hürriyet

"I have always been opposed to the entry of Turkey" into the EU, he said in a television interview. "Turkey is not in Europe," the president declared. Sarkozy said that if Turkey's membership of the EU became a serious issue while he was president he would call a referendum.

"If tomorrow the Swiss want to come into Europe, we are not going to contest the fact that they are Europeans" and hold a referendum, he said in the interview. "You cannot have a France that tells its 26 European partners excuse us, we cannot decide anything because of the referendum," Sarkozy was quoted as saying by AFP.

Sarkozy has repeatedly said Turkey, which has embarked on preliminary talks with the EU, "does not belong in Europe", arguing that most of its land mass is in Asia. Polls indicate most French back Sarkozy’s stance.

The EU opened entry talks with Turkey in 2005, but there has been little progress amid disagreements over Cyprus and opposition from France and other EU countries, including Austria.