The Latest: Top Brexit leader condemns EU over Catalonia

BARCELONA, Spain — The Latest on Catalonia’s independence referendum and Spain’s response (all times local):

11:05 a.m.

A prominent leader of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has condemned the bloc’s failure to clearly condemn the police violence that marred Sunday’s contested independence vote in the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Nigel Farage said “it is quite extraordinary to realize that this Union is prepared to turn a blind eye” to events in Catalonia.

He told EU lawmakers that never “did I think we would see the police of a member state of the Union injuring 900 people in an attempt to stop them going out to vote.”

Farage attacked European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for his silence about it during a speech to the assembly Tuesday, saying: “What do we get from Mister Juncker today? Not a dicky-bird.”

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10:55 a.m.

Cyprus says Spain’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity need to be respected, arguing that the referendum on Catalonia’s independence was carried out “in violation” of the Spanish constitution.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry of the internationally recognized south of the Mediterranean island nation said Spain’s unity must be upheld as well as its constitutional order.

The ministry said “dialogue and restraint are only the way forward.”

Cyprus itself was split into a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south when Turkey invaded in 1974 following a coup by supporters of union the Greece.

The latest round of talks aimed at reunifying the island collapsed last July.

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9:35 a.m.

Turkey’s foreign ministry spokesman says respect for Spain’s territorial integrity is a main “principle.”

Huseyin Muftuoglu said in a statement issued early Tuesday that it was important that both sides abide by Spain’s laws and avoid violence.

His comment follows Sunday’s independence referendum in Catalonia that Spain’s courts deemed illegal. More than 800 people were injured as riot police clashed with unarmed civilians trying to cast their ballots.

Muftuoglu said Turkey believes Spain will overcome “such tests.”

Turkey, which is battling a Kurdish insurgency, has strongly opposed a referendum on independence by the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in neighboring Iraq, threatening economic sanctions and military action.

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8:45 a.m.

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Labor unions and grassroots pro-independence groups are urging workers to hold partial or full-day strikes throughout Catalonia to protest alleged brutality by police during a referendum on the region’s secession from Spain that left hundreds of people injured.

The strike call comes as Catalan leaders ponder a possible declaration of independence this week following the referendum that Spain said was illegal and invalid.

Port workers were being called to demonstrate Tuesday outside the regional headquarters of Spain’s ruling Popular Party while firefighters planned a rally outside the Interior Ministry’s regional office in the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

Protests were also to be staged outside polling stations where police acted with force to try to prevent Sunday’s poll being held.