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<p>The Government supports Turkey’s EU accession process, which remains the most effective
mechanism for us to support continuing reform in Turkey. However, Turkey’s accession
is not on the cards for many years to come. Turkey first applied for associate membership
of the European Economic Community in 1959, and there remains a very significant amount
of detailed work to do before Turkey is ready to join the EU. The question of whether
to hold a referendum would therefore be for the Government of the day, at that time,
and for Parliament at that time, when it came to consider the primary legislation
which, under the European Union Act 2011, is required before the UK can ratify any
new accession.</p>
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