Dutch will pay price: Erdogan
istanbul — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday threatened that the Netherlands would “pay a price” after expelling a Turkish minister and preventing Ankara’s top diplomat from landing ahead of planned rallies.
The crisis with the Netherlands is the most serious yet as tensions spiral between Turkey and its EU allies over the desire of top Turkish officials to hold rallies abroad ahead of the April 16 referendum on a new constitution that would give Erdogan greater powers.
“Hey Holland! If you are sacrificing Turkish-Dutch relations for the sake of the elections on Wednesday, you will pay a price,” an angry Erdogan told a ceremony in Istanbul, referring to the upcoming legislative polls in Turkey’s Nato ally. “They will learn what diplomacy is,” he growled, adding that what happened “cannot remain unanswered”.
Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was expelled after being prevented from addressing a rally in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.
Turkish officials said she said she and her entourage were subjected to “rude and tough treatment”. Erdogan added: “They went as far as to lock the door of the consulate there (in Rotterdam).”
Also this weekend, The Hague refused to allow Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s plane to land ahead of a planned rally.
Erdogan reaffirmed his accusations from Saturday that the Dutch behaviour over the Turkish visits was “Nazism, fascism”.
“They will pay the price of treating my citizens, my foreign minister... in an impudent way.” —
ankara/rotterdam — Turkey told the Netherlands on Sunday that it would retaliate in the “harshest ways” after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam, as a row over Ankara’s political campaigning among Turkish immigrants escalated.
The Dutch government barred Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam on Saturday and later stopped Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate there, before escorting her out of the country to Germany.
Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam.
Some threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.
The Dutch government — set to lose about half its seats in elections this week, according to polls, as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders makes strong gains — said the ministers’ visits were undesirable and it would not cooperate in their campaigning in the Netherlands.
I thought nazism was dead, but I was wrong. nazism is still widespread in the West. The West has shown its true face. Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President
This is a man who yesterday made us out for fascists and a country of nazis. I’m going to de-escalate, but not by offering apologies. are you nuts? Mark Rutte, Dutch PM
“If you can sacrifice Turkish- Dutch relations for an election on Wednesday, you will pay the price,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at an awards ceremony in Istanbul.
“I thought Nazism was dead, but I was wrong. Nazism is still widespread in the West,” he said. “The West has shown its true face.”
Speaking to reporters before a public appearance in the northeastern French city of Metz, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue to act against the Netherlands until it apologises. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would do everything to “de-escalate” the confrontation, which he described as the worst the Netherlands had experienced for years.
But he said the idea of apologising was “bizarre”.
“This is a man who yesterday made us out for fascists and a country of Nazis. Im going to deescalate, but not by offering apologies. Are you nuts?” he told a morning talk show. In a statement issued early on Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would retaliate in the “harshest ways”.
The row risked spreading on Sunday as Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen proposed postponing a planned visit by Yildirim this month due to the dispute.
The French foreign ministry urged calm and said there had been no reason to prohibit a meeting in France between Cavusoglu and a local Turkish association. —