ANKARA, Turkey — Soon after he forced Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to quit last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned up rhetoric against the European Union, bringing relations to the brink of rupture. Having worked hard to warm ties with the EU, Davutoglu stepped down just as the European Commissionr recommended the introduction of a visa-free travel regime for Turkish nationals, provided that Ankara fulfilled five outstanding criteria.

Erdogan lashed out at the EU for a condition requiring Turkey to amend its anti-terror law, describing it as an unfair fiat at a time when the country is facing serious terrorist threats. “They say, ‘I am going to abolish visas and this is the condition.’ I'm sorry, we're going our way, you go yours. Agree with whoever you can agree,” he said May 6.

Yet visa-free travel for Turks in Europe was something that Erdogan himself had pushed hard for during his years as prime minister. In December 2013, he and Davutoglu, then foreign minister, oversaw the signing of a protocol that laid the groundwork for the visa waiver, simultaneously with a readmission agreement, under which Ankara pledged to take back illegal immigrants who reach the EU via Turkey. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Ankara, Erdogan hailed the accords as “a genuine milestone” in Turkey-EU ties, promising Turks visa-free travel to Europe in about three years’ time. In March, the readmission accord was compounded with a deal to stop the Syrian refugee flow to Europe.

Under Turkey’s anti-terror law, individuals and entities can easily be accused of being terrorists or collaborating with terrorism. Erdogan has come to handily use it as a tool to bully his political opponents, critical media, academics and intellectuals.