Turkey warns EU: Migrant deal off if no visa-free travel

Antalya, May 30 

Ankara will abandon a deal with the European Union to reduce migrant flows if its citizens are not granted visa-free travel to most of the bloc, Turkey's foreign minister has warned.

With the two sides locked in an increasingly-bitter standoff, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was "impossible" for Ankara to change anti-terror laws that Brussels wants to see narrowed in exchange for the visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

"We have told them 'we are not threatening you' but there's a reality. We have signed two deals with you (the European Union) and both are interlinked,” Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists, including AFP, at the southern holiday resort of Antalya.

“This is not a threat but what is required from an agreement,” he said.

Building on a threat by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, Cavusoglu said Turkey would use “administrative” measures to block the deal if needed. — AFP