ERDOGAN WARNS HE COULD UNLEASH MIGRANT SURGE

Turkey’s president warned Europe on Friday that his nation could unleash another migrant crisis in the West, sharply raising the stakes after European Union lawmakers called for a suspension in membership talks with Turkey.

Quarrels over Turkey’s bid to join the EU have flared for decades and the vote Thursday by the European Parliament to freeze membership dialogue was largely symbolic. But the latest rift underscored the elevated risks amid new political pressures on both sides more than 10 months after an E.U.-Turkey pact that greatly slowed a surge of more than one million migrants and refugees into Europe.

European politicians are increasingly uneasy about openings to Turkey as its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tightens his grip against perceived opposition, including journalists and activists. In his first speech since the vote, Erdogan warned that any further steps to mothball membership talks or sideline Turkish exchanges with the EU could set another migrant wave in motion.

In March, a two-part agreement was reached to cut the flow of migrants: Turkey would stem the flow of migrants travelling by sea to Greece in exchange for incentives including fast-tracked membership talks, billions of euros in aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey and visa-free travel for Turkish citizens.