Shame on Erdogan and on the European Union

Shame on Turkish tyrant Recep Tayyip Erdogan for again using refugees as a cudgel against Europe — and shame on Europe’s leaders for leaving that power in his hands.

In a speech to his ruling-party faithful Wednesday, Erdogan warned the European Union not to call his invasion of northern Syria “an invasion,” because “we could just open the gates and send 3.6 million Syrian refugees into Europe.”

It’s no idle threat: Erdogan opened the gate once before — triggering the migrant crisis that led to social and political turmoil all across Europe. In the end, EU governments, rather than do the tough work of enforcing the border, basically bribed Turkey to shut down the flow.

Ankara’s preferred description of the drive to crush the Syrian Kurds, with airstrikes and artillery shelling on towns and villages along the border, is “Operation Peace Spring.”

And it seems that the European Union is giving in to the Orwellian request, at least halfway: Its statement on the operation simply calls on Turkey to “cease the unilateral military action.”

That’s some commitment to humanitarianism: EU leaders will submit to Erdogan’s censorship as long as Turkey does their dirty work of border control for them.