Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to release millions of immigrants into Europe if the EU does not support his plans for a 'safe zone' in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to release millions of immigrants into Europe if the EU does not support his plans for a 'safe zone' in Syria.

Erdogan warned: 'If there is no support for the projects we are developing for between one and two million refugees, we will have no option but to open our doors, and let them go to Europe.'

Meanwhile Kurdish protests occurred in several European cities including Milan and Oslo over Turkey's invasion of northern Syria.

Turkey is home to some 3.6million refugees and Erdogan has long been planning a 'safe zone' where some of them can be housed.

After similar threats were accused of being blackmail, Erdogan insisted he was 'not blackmailing anyone' but 'putting forward a solution'.

Erdogan also said that he would 'clear terrorists' on its border in norther Syria if the Kurdish militia did not withdraw by 6pm on Tuesday - a deadline agreed with Russia.

Referring to the YPG militia as terrorists, he said: 'If the terrorists are not cleared at the end of the 150 hours, we will take control and clean it ourselves.'

A protester fires a rocket during a pro-Kurdish demonstration against Turkey's military action in northeastern Syria, outside the Turkish consulate in Milan, Italy,

Erdogan also said that he would 'clear terrorists' on its border in norther Syria if the Kurdish militia did not withdraw by 6pm on Tuesday - a deadline agreed with Russia. Pictured are Syrian government forces driving through the north of the country where it borders Turkey

Referring to the YPG militia as terrorists, he said: 'If the terrorists are not cleared at the end of the 150 hours, we will take control and clean it ourselves.' Pictured is a convoy of the Syrian army

Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed a deal in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday in which Moscow will 'facilitate the removal' of the fighters and their weapons from within 18 miles of the border.

Despite his threat, Erdogan said Turkey had 'to a large extent' reached its goal in terms of setting up a 'safe zone' to protect against attacks from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group and the Kurdish YPG militia.

Turkey has repeatedly criticised American support to the YPG, who spearheaded the fight against IS under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) banner.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighters assist their injured fellow fighter near the border town of Tal Abyad, Syria

Smoke rises from targets inside Syria during the bombardment by Turkish forces at Ras al-Ain

Thick plumes of smoke rose around Ras al-Ain, one of two Syrian border areas targeted in the offensive as Turkey-backed forces ramped up their attack

For Ankara, the YPG is as dangerous as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara, the US and the European Union.

Earlier this month, Turkey and the US reached an agreement on the YPG's withdrawal from a 120-kilometre zone between Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain following the Turkish military's operation supporting Syrian proxies against the Kurdish fighters began on October 9.

The US said this had been completed and in return, Ankara agreed to halt its offensive.