ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the European Union Tuesday it needs Turkey more than Ankara needs the bloc, as tensions grew over promises for visa liberalization in a crucial deal on stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had earlier bluntly told the EU that Ankara would no longer abide by the March migrant accord if Brussels fails to implement the pledge to grant Turks visa-free travel by June.

Tensions have also been fueled by a European Parliament report published last week that accused Turkey of backsliding on democracy and pressure from Ankara on Berlin to prosecute a German comic over a poem satirizing Erdogan.

The issues are coming to a head as Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials prepare to travel Saturday to the Turkish city of Gaziantep close to the Syrian border to discuss implementation of the migrant deal.

“The European Union needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the European Union,” Erdogan said to cheers in a televised speech to municipal leaders in Ankara, denouncing as “provocative” the European Parliament report.

He lashed out at the report for not praising Turkey’s hosting of some 2.7 million refugees from the war in neighboring Syria.

“Three million people have been looked after in this country so they don’t disturb the Europeans. Is there anything about this in the report?” said Erdogan. “At a time when our relations with the European Union are in a positive phase regarding the migrants... it is provocative to come out with a report like that.”

Turkey has been given a string of promises from the European Union — including visa-free travel to the border-free Schengen Zone and new momentum for its long-stalled membership bid — in return for stepping up efforts to stop migrants crossing to EU territory.

“This is a mutual commitment,” Davutoglu said on Monday of the promise to exempt Turks from visas by the end of June.

“If the EU cannot take the necessary steps required of it then of course it cannot be expected of Turkey to take these steps,” Davutoglu told reporters before heading to Strasbourg to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

If the June deadline is not adhered to, “of course no-one can expect Turkey to adhere to its commitments,” he added.