Europe-Turkey rift widens
ANKARA: A serious diplomatic crisis is unfolding between some European countries and Turkey after the Netherlands banned Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, from entering the country to speak in Rotterdam for Turkish émigré voters ahead of a April 16 constitutional referendum.
The Netherlands announced that it would also close its land border to any crossings by Turkish politicians.
Austria and Switzerland have also canceled some planned Turkish rallies in their countries, while Germany’s local authorities withdrew permission over the use of the venues for pre-arranged rallies in support of the upcoming referendum.
Turkey’s first reaction to the controversial ban on rallies of Turkish politicians has been to compare such moves to “Naziera practices,” while Cavusoglu accused Dutch authorities of treating Turkish citizens in their country like “captives.”
“The Netherlands should now think about how their planes will land in Turkey,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a rally in Istanbul. “They are Nazi remnants, they are fascists. Our people will disrupt your conspiracy on 16th April.”
As a retaliation of withdrawing landing rights for its foreign minister, Turkey has also threatened the Dutch government with harsh economic and political sanctions. Cavusoglu also implied that Turkey might realign with Russia in world politics if “Europe keeps behaving like a boss.”
Erhan Akdemir, a professor of international relations at Anadolu University, said the diplomatic crisis mainly derives from the slowdown in democratic reforms in Turkey, which was closely followed by Europe.
“As a reaction to the decline in personal freedoms, rule of law, separation of powers, countries of Europe like Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and France have begun to raise their voices,” Akdemir told Arab News.
Akdemir also noted that the Turkish government is aware that it can easily convert a tough stance abroad into votes in Turkey, while expat votes are determinant in the outcome of the referendum.
“But this is a lose-lose scenario for both sides in economic, touristic, cultural terms. We already witnessed similar cases before in our relations with Egypt, Russia, Syria and Iraq,” he added.
Analysts note that the result of the April 16 referendum will determine the direction that such crises will take in the upcoming period.
“If the yes votes win, Turkey will get into a comprehensive foreign policy transformation, which will surely involve ties with Europe,” Akdemir said.
The Netherlands Embassy in Riyadh could not be reached for comment late Saturday.