UK: Far right leader slams EU over visa deal with Turkey

LONDON

A deal to grant Turkish citizens visa-free access to the European Union is "collective insanity", a British politician has said.

Nigel Farage, whose far right U.K. Independence Party (UKIP) wants Britain to pull out of the EU, said the agreement would open Europe and Britain to up to 75 million Turkish citizens.

Sunday’s agreement between Turkey and the European Union would grant visa-free travel for Turkish citizens from October 2016 if Ankara takes steps to stem the flow of refugees coming into Europe.

But the travel agreement would only cover countries in the EU’s Schengen zone, which the U.K. is not part of.

UKIP leader Farage told the Sun the deal was "collective insanity".

He told the newspaper Monday: "Free EU visa travel for 75 million Turkish citizens is another reason to vote to leave the EU and take back control of our borders."

His comments came a day after he said German Chancellor Angela Merkel wanted to "fast-track" Turkish membership of the EU.

Farage told Sky News: "And what that will mean is 75 million people will have freedom of movement to come to the rest of Europe and to this country."

He also claimed that 8 percent of the Turkish population are Daesh sympathizers, citing a opinion poll without naming the pollster, although it raised parallels with an earlier survey in the Sun last week that claimed 20 percent of British Muslims "had sympathy" for Daesh.

Survation, which conducted the Sun survey, subsequently distanced itself from the way it was reported in the newspaper.

"Our view remains that the most meaningful way to interpret the results of this polling is in the proper context alongside a comparable sample of non-Muslims, as we did in March of this year using identical methodology and the same question wording," the pollster said in a statement last week.