President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Turkey could open its border for refugees to stream into Europe after EU MEPs voted for a temporary halt to membership talks.
Speaking at a congress on women’ justice in Istanbul, the president warned:
“If you go any further, these border gates will be opened. Neither me nor my people will be affected by these dry threats. (Diazepam) It wouldn’t matter if all of you approved the vote”.
The threat came a day after the European Parliament angered Ankara by backing a freeze in EU accession talks, already hit by alarm over its crackdown following the July 15 failed coup.
“Listen to me. If you go any further, then the frontiers will be opened, bear that in mind,”
-Erdogan told the EU during a speech in Istanbul.
He said Brussels had cried out for help in 2015 as tens of thousands of migrants massed at Turkey’s border crossing with EU member state Bulgaria.
“You began to ask us ‘What will we do if Turkey opens its borders’?”
-he asked.