Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was due to speak in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on Saturday in support of a referendum in Turkey next month to give Mr Erdogan greater powers.
Advertisement
Turkey’s Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was deported from The Netherlands on Sunday after arriving to the city of Rotterdam where protests erupted outside the Turkish consulate. “(Dutch) police are not allowing me to enter the consulate. The rally was banned for security reasons, Rotterdam’s mayor said. After officials cancelled a rally for Erdoğan, the president said the country’s “practices are not different from the Nazi practices of the past”.
“It’s a insane remark, of course”, Mr Rutte said. “But I understand they are angry but this is of course way out of line”.
Unlike in Germany, where a string of planned rallies were barred by local authorities, in the Netherlands it was the government that stepped in to block Cavusoglu’s visit.
The biggest problem, Rutte said, is that the Turkish government talks continually about Turkish citizens in the Netherlands.
It cited public order and security worries in withdrawing landing rights for Cavusoglu’s flight.
The official said entries and exits were closed to the two locations.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said it did not want the Dutch ambassador to Ankara to return from leave “for some time”.
“The Netherlands will not let itself be blackmailed”, Rutte said on Sunday.
“It certainly helps our campaign here, while reminding voters that the European Union is against Turkish progress”, said a Turkish official. Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels said the arrests, made for alleged violence and public order offenses, came as protesters pelted police with bottles and rocks early Sunday.
“These actions of the Dutch side grossly violate Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations”. We are here to defend our country and our people. “The same racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, we see all the crimes against humanity in today’s politics”.
About 1,000 people waving Turkish flags gathered on the street leading to the consulate, as tensions rocketed over rallies overseas to help Ankara gain backing for an April referendum vote.
The latest spat comes just days before the Dutch general election. “If racist Geert Wilders were in power in the Netherlands, he’d make such a decision”.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has already threatened the Netherlands that retaliation will come in the “harshest ways”. “Treating a female minister this way is very ugly”, Kaya told reporters at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.
Advertisement
The ban infuriated Turkey and prompted Mr Erdogan to brand the Netherlands “Nazi remnants, fascists” following the decision. “What damage will my going have on them?”
