Erdogan's Blackmail threats, the death penalty, a press takeover, a judicial purge, and Erdogan's jailing of political opponents finally tipped the scale for Austria, Luxembourg, and the EU enlargement commissioner.

Please consider Erdogan Threatens to 'Open the Gates' for Refugees in EU Dispute.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey threatened to "open the gates" to Europe for millions of Syrian refugees as he lashed out at Brussels over growing criticism of his crackdown on opponents.

Mr Erdogan made the comments shortly before the European Commission castigated his administration on Wednesday for purging more than 100,000 soldiers, judges, civil servants and teachers from their posts since a failed coup in July. The war of words comes amid pressure from some EU countries to suspend talks with Ankara over Turkish membership.