Recep Tayyip Erdogan Compares Dutch Rally Ban To Nazism As Row Spirals

It then blocked Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish embassy in the port city before escorting her out of the country to Germany.

The Dutch government, meanwhile, hit back against Kaya’s defiant and “irresponsible” attempt to visit the country after being told she was not welcome, while slamming subsequent verbal attacks by Turkish authorities as “unacceptable”.

As she was approaching the German border, Ms Kaya wrote: “The whole world must take action against this fascist practice!”

He also said Turkey would retaliate for the ousting of the Turkish family affairs minister from the Netherlands.

Mr Erdogan is looking to gain support from the large number of Turkish people living in Europe to help clinch victory in the 16 April referendum that could give him sweeping new powers. Dutch anger The Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte has demanded an apology from Turkey for likening the Dutch to “Nazi fascists”.

On Sunday, Erdogan also blasted the Netherlands as “Nazis” for their treatment of the ministers, saying that the Dutch will pay the price.

Supporting Rutte’s decision to ban the visits, the Dutch government said there was a risk of Turkish political divisions flowing over into its own Turkish minority, which has both pro- and anti-Erdogan camps.

In Turkey, a protester entered the Dutch Consulate’s premises in Istanbul on March 12 and replaced the country’s flag with the Turkish flag, the DHA news agency reported.

Numerous countries, including Germany, have cited security concerns as the official reason.

In a written statement early Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country will strongly respond to the Dutch actions.

“You can stop our foreign minister’s plane all you want, let’s see how your planes will come to Turkey from now on”, he said.

According to the Turkish foreign ministry, Cavusoglu was still in Istanbul when the Dutch authorities announced they would refuse his plane permission to land.

“They don’t know anything about politics or worldwide diplomacy”, said Erdoğan, according the translation of a Reuters video. “We can never do business under those sorts of threats and blackmail”, said Mark Rutte, whose party is locked in a neck-and-neck race with populist firebrand Geert Wilders.

‘Our so-called European friends who talk about democracy, freedom of speech and human rights have fallen short, ‘ he said.

Speaking in Metz, Mr Cavusoglu said it was not enough for the Dutch to apologise and that the Turkish government would “continue to take steps”.

Berlin has emerged as a strident critic of Ankara’s crackdown after an attempted coup last July, which has seen more than 100,000 people arrested, suspended from their jobs or sacked for alleged links to the plotters or to Kurdish militants.