President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Turkey could open its border for refugees to stream into Europe as EU lawmakers vote for a temporary halt to membership talks.
Speaking at a congress on womens' justice in Istanbul, the president warned: "If you go any further, these border gates will be opened. Neither me nor my people will be affected by these dry threats. It wouldn't matter if all of you approved the vote".
He said the EU had "wailed" for help controlling the migrant flows in 2015 and worried what would happen if Turkey opened its borders.
MEPs voted 479 in favour of halting long-term membership talks with Ankara at a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday amid concerns about the brutal crackdown on political dissidents since the failed coup in July.
The talks were part of a wide-ranging deal agreed with Mr Erdogan's government which meant Turkey would shelter the thousands of refugees fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria in exchange for aid, membership talks and visa-free travel for its citizens.
The deal means for every refugee which arrives in Europe who is repatriated back to Turkey, EU countries will resettle another from Turkish refugee camps in a "one in, one out" system.
The controversial agreement was designed to ease the pressure on European political leaders after they were viewed as powerless to control their own borders.
In Germany, where over one million people arrived in the country in 2015 alone, anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) have threatened Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat Union party in several key regional elections and could be poised to make big gains in the federal elections next year.
The deal has brought down the number of people attempting the dangerous sea crossing – down from a peak of over 2,000 people a day in 2015 to the current average of 100 a day.
The negotiations for Turkey's potential accession to the EU have been underway since 2005 but European leaders have warned that Ankara is unlikely to be permitted to join if Mr Erdogan follows through with his threat to restore the death penalty.
So far around 70,000 people have been arrested and thousands more have been fired from their jobs in schools, the judiciary and the police following the coup where soldiers took over the state broadcaster and blockaded Istanbul's main airport.
Mr Erdogan accused supporters of his former ally, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the coup against him and arrested several members of his family – though the Pennsylvania-based cleric has denied any involvement.
