European Union governments threatened sanctions against Turkey on Friday over its military operation in Syria, angrily rejecting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that he would "open the gates" and send 3.6 million refugees to Europe if EU nations did not back him.
Turkey has stepped up its air and artillery campaign on Kurdish groups in northeast Syria, escalating an offensive that has drawn warnings of a humanitarian disaster and also raised the prospect of new United States sanctions on Ankara.
The EU, which Turkey still formally aspires to join despite its growing criticism of Ankara's human rights record, had already condemned the Turkish offensive but has been infuriated by Erdogan's threats to send refugees to Europe.
A senior EU official said the EU was spending six billion euros ($6.63bn) on supporting the Syrian refugees currently living in camps inside Turkey, adding that "to use this as leverage is totally unacceptable".
Read more: Furious with Turkey, EU officials threaten sanctions | Turkey News | Al Jazeera
Turkey has stepped up its air and artillery campaign on Kurdish groups in northeast Syria, escalating an offensive that has drawn warnings of a humanitarian disaster and also raised the prospect of new United States sanctions on Ankara.
The EU, which Turkey still formally aspires to join despite its growing criticism of Ankara's human rights record, had already condemned the Turkish offensive but has been infuriated by Erdogan's threats to send refugees to Europe.
A senior EU official said the EU was spending six billion euros ($6.63bn) on supporting the Syrian refugees currently living in camps inside Turkey, adding that "to use this as leverage is totally unacceptable".
Read more: Furious with Turkey, EU officials threaten sanctions | Turkey News | Al Jazeera
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