Turkey may hold Brexit-style referendum on EU accession bid - Erdogan

Turkey's president,  Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the country may hold a Brexit-like referendum on whether to carry on with the process to join the European Union membership, amid strain relations with the EU.
Erdogan raised the proposal at a Turkish-UK forum in the southern city of Antalya on Saturday.

Referring to Britain's departure from the EU, Erdogan said Turkey would likely review its ties with the bloc and "might" hold a similar referendum after the April 16 constitution vote, aimed at expanding the power of the Turkish presidency.

"Right now we are holding a referendum on April 16 and after that we could choose to do a second one on the (EU) accession talks and we would abide by whatever our people would say there," Erdogan told a joint forum with Britain in the southern city of Antalya.

Turkey, applied for EU membership in 1987 and began negotiation process talks in 2005 but negotiations have been a t a stand still for years.

Tensions between Ankara and several European countries have reached a new low ahead of the April 16 referendum.