Bizarre ways the Turkish are fighting the Dutch
NEW DELHI: There’s more to national feuds than marches and angry signboards and expelling of envoys, and Turkey is here to show you how it’s done. As its diplomatic spat with the Netherlands escalated after the Dutch refused to let Turkish ministers hold rallies in their territory, Turkey’s government and its people have found innovative ways to express their anger.
Stabbing oranges
The Dutch have long been associated with orange, their national colour. What better way to wound them, then, than to attack the fruit?
Or so thought supporters of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who were seen this weekend wielding knives and stabbing and squeezing out fresh oranges at a demonstration. They then drank the juice, while looking menacingly into the cameras.
‘Deporting’ cows
As the spat worsened, Turkey’s red meat association announced it was sending back a consignment of Dutch cattle because it was “starting to cause serious problems” adding that “in future we do not want animal products from Holland”.
The move was symbolic, but tell that to the bovines forced to leave their dream country.
‘Nazi’ accusations
Calling people “Nazis” isn’t just the go-to tactic for lazy internet commenters any more.
President Erdogan in particular is a fan, hurling the word at Netherlands and Germany (which took the Netherlands’ side) over the course of the last two weeks.
While this seemed to have hit a nerve and drew condemnatory responses from both governments, perhaps Erdogan didn’t mean it to be quite as insulting as they thought last year, he praised Adolf Hitler’s Germany as an example of an effective government.
Target Bieber on Twitter
No need to look too far for the inspiration, though. The hacked accounts all began posting swastika-studded, anti-Nazi messages in Turkish against Holland and Germany, just in case you thought Erdogan’s words were too subtle.