Erdogan: Turkey might hold referendum on EU

President lashes out at protest in Switzerland

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s president said Saturday the country might pursue a Brexit-like referendum on whether to pursue European Union membership and also lashed out at a critical protest in Switzerland.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought up the proposal at a Turkish-U.K. forum in the southern city of Antalya, referring to the British departure from the EU and saying Turkey “might” hold a similar referendum after the April 16 vote to expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

The negotiation process for Turkey’s EU membership began in 2005, but has been at a standstill for years.

Tensions between Ankara and several European capitals have been escalating ahead of the contentious April 16 referendum.

Turkish opposition members and Western allies have criticized the constitutional referendum, saying it would grant Erdogan unprecedented authority with limited checks and balances.

Earlier this month, Dutch and German authorities restricted Turkish officials from campaigning for diaspora votes, resulting in harsh criticism from Ankara.

At a rally earlier Saturday, Erdogan lashed out at the critics who claimed Turkey would not be allowed into the EU if the referendum passed, saying it would “make our job easier” if Europe made that call and adding, “Turkey is no one’s whipping boy.”

Erdogan also criticized a demonstration in Switzerland on Saturday where protesters hung a banner depicting him with a gun to his head.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it had summoned Swiss charge d’affaires to condemn the incident and the minister had called his Swiss counterpart to voice displeasure.

The statement also claimed the demonstrators belonged to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, adding that it would be “closely monitoring the legal and administrative actions to be taken by Swiss authorities regarding this crime.”

ROME — With Britain poised to start divorce proceedings, the 27 remaining European Union nations put pen to paper Saturday in Rome to renew their vows for continued unity in the face of crises that are increasingly testing the bonds between members.

The EU nations marked the 60th anniversary of their founding treaty as a turning point in their history, as British Prime Minister Theresa May will officially trigger divorce proceedings from the bloc next week — a fact that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called “a tragedy.”

Determined to show that unity is the only way ahead in a globalized world, the EU leaders were able to walk away from a summit without acrimony, which was already sort of a victory.

“We didn’t have a major clash or conflict, contrary to what many thought,” Juncker said.

EU Council President Donald Tusk said that sustained unity was the only way for the EU to survive.

“Europe as a political entity will either be united or will not be at all,” he told EU leaders at a solemn session in the same ornate hall on the ancient Capitoline Hill where the Treaty of Rome, which founded the EU, was signed on March 25, 1957.

Toe move ahead though, the EU leaders recognized that full unity on all things will be unworkable. Pushed by several Western European nations, they enshrined a pledge to give member nations more freedom to form partial alliances and set policy when unanimity is out of reach.

“We will act together, at different paces and intensity where necessary, while moving in the same direction,” said the Rome Declaration signed by the 27 nations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to assuage fears that it would lead to a further unraveling of unity.

“The Europe of different speeds does not in any way mean that it is not a common Europe,” she said. “We are saying here very clearly that we want to go in a common direction. And there are things that are not negotiable” — the EU freedom of movement, goods, people and services.

With Britain leaving, the mantle of recalcitrant member seems to have been taken over by Poland. Still, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was more subdued than at the last summit two weeks ago, when she refused to adopt conclusions that need unanimity.

“The Rome declaration is the first stop toward renewing the unity of the EU,” Szydlo told reporters.