Erdogan: Borders to Remain Open to Exiting Migrants until EU Makes Move

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will maintain open borders for migrants heading to European countries, thus maintaining pressure on the European Union to facilitate a 2016 accord allocating billions to help Ankara pay for the migrants’ upkeep. Though the Turkish side of the border with Greece, an EU member, remains open, Greek authorities are blocking the migrants, leading to footage and photos that have proved embarrassing to Brussels. “There is no difference between those images on the Greek border and what the Nazis did,” Erdogan told lawmakers from his AK Party after showing them footage at parliament on Wednesday. The Turkish president was in Brussels on Monday to meet with top EU officials, including European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Until all [our] expectations are met in a concrete way, we will continue our current practice at our borders,” he told his colleagues in Ankara. Beyond close to $7 billion in EU aid, Turkey is also seeking membership in the European bloc.