Turkey warns EU it could SUSPEND migrant deal agreements if there is no progress on visas
TURKEY could re-evaluate or suspend all agreements under the migrant deal with the European Union if the bloc does not give a positive response on visa-free travel for Turks, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that Turkey was re-evaluating the refugee deal with Europe
In an interview with broadcaster A Haber, Mr Cavusoglu said the migrant deal and visa liberalisation were a package, and added it was Turkey's right to re-evaluate or suspend these if one element was not fulfilled.
He said: "We are not applying the re-admission agreement at the moment, and we are evaluating the refugee deal."
Mr Cavusoglu also said Turkey currently had no issues with Russia and would strengthen cooperation on a ceasefire and political solution in Syria, after a chemical attack blamed on Syrian government forces killed scores in rebel-held Idlib province, prompting the United States to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base.
Turkey’s president threatens to tear up EU migration deal
Europe is collapsing
The EU has promised Turkey EU membership for decades, and has recently offered to fast-track the Islamic republic's application in a bid to convince president Erdogan regime to keep three million migrants from travelling to Europe.
It comes as Turkey prepares to vote on constitutional reforms which would see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receive new powers as president - in a move critics have claimed would give him the authority of a dictator.
Earlier this week, President Erdogan claimed Europe "is collapsing" and "will pay" for the way it has treated Turkey.
President Erdogan stepped up his anti-Europe rhetoric calling the bloc 'sick men'
As diplomatic tensions between Turkey and the bloc continue to escalate, Erdogan declared that his countries success is making eurocrats go "crazy".
Erdogan said: "They said a century ago that we were the 'sick man'. Now they are the 'sick men'. Europe is collapsing."