Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has lashed out at Europe the same day a Greek court again refused to extradite eight former Turkish servicemen wanted by Ankara.
Speaking at a rally in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, Erdogan’s crowd booed the EU as the Turkish leader spoke about letting an estimated three million Syrian refugees cross into Europe.
This month marks the anniversary of the 2016 EU-Turkey Readmission Agreement which saw a dramatic fall in the number of refugees fleeting to Europe via Turkey.
However, Ankara insists that key promises in the deal, such as visa liberalization for Turkish citizens, have not been kept.
Tensions between Greece and Turkey remain heightened, amid airspace incursions by Turkish military plans, clashes in the Aegean and two junior Greek officers currently being held prisoner in Edirne after accidentally crossing the border on March 1.
In a public rally in eastern province Erzurum today, #Erdogan threatened Europe with opening border gates to flood EU with refugees, says "you begged us to not do that.. if we do it, you'll be scrambled to find a hiding hole" as he gets the crowd booed European Parliament. pic.twitter.com/JdpfsR5YFr
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 16, 2018