Ankara threatens to send '15,000 refugees a month'
Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has threatened to "blow the mind" of Europe by sending 15,000 refugees a month to EU territory, in an intensifying dispute with the bloc.
Ankara and Brussels almost a year ago on March 18 signed a landmark deal that has substantially lessened the flow of migrants from Turkey to Europe.
But the accord is now hanging in the balance due to the diplomatic crisis over the blocking of Turkish ministers from holding rallies in Europe.
"If you want, we could open the way for 15,000 refugees that we don't send each month and blow the mind" of Europe, Soylu said in a speech late Thursday, quoted by the Anadolu news agency.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has already indicated that Turkey could rip up the deal and said Turkey was no longer readmitting migrants who crossed into Greece.
The crisis was sparked when the Netherlands and Germany refused to allow Turkish ministers to campaign in a April 16 referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers, prompting the Turkish strongman to compare them with Nazi Germany.
Meanwhile, a Turkish pro-government newspaper yesterday depicted Chancellor Angela Merkel on its front page in Nazi uniform with a Hitler-style moustache, labelling the German leader "She Hitler" amid a bitter war of words between Ankara and Berlin.
Right-wing tabloid-style daily Gunes ("Sun") printed the picture along with the words in German: "#Frau Hitler" and called her an "ugly aunt".
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