Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened the EU and Cyprus warning his country had 4 million refugees.

Before his departure to the US, Mr. Erdogan said the EU should not threaten Turkey with sanctions as it “had 4 million refugees” adding that the “Europeans forget that we [Turkey] are guarantors in the Eastern Mediterranean and have rights in the EEZ. Our rights derive from international law. Europeans are threatening us with sanctions. We say: Keep your promises to Turkey because otherwise things will get worse. Sitting at the negotiating table does not mean that we are bound. Negotiations can break down at any time.”

“We told you again, but you may have underestimated it. The doors will open, we will send jihadists and then you can take care of yourselves. Do not intimidate us with developments in Cyprus,” he added

On the issue of Cyprus and the illegal drilling in the small nation’s EEZ, he went on to claim Turkey had rights in the region, unlike countries that had come to the region and started exploration without any rights. “In areas outside their EEZ. When we do surveys they talk about sanctions. And in 1959 you threatened us and in 1963 you threatened us.”