Erdogan accuses Dutch of having ‘massacred over 8000’ at Srebrenica

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, the government’s chief spokesman, also said Ankara might re-evaluate its deal with the European Union to halt the flow of migrants from Turkish shores to Europe. Dutch police moved in early Sunday to break up the protests, using water cannon, dogs and mounted horse-back charges.

“Their request for us to relax our terror legislation when they are broadening theirs has nothing to do with objectivity and justice”, he said. Protests erupted in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam late yesterday outside the Turkish consulate amid a row with Ankara after Dutch authorities banned the visits of Turkish ministers.

Relations became much worse after a failed military coup in July against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who embarked on a widespread crackdown in response and is now seeking increased powers in a referendum next month.

On the one hand, by holding rallies in Germany and elsewhere the Turkish authorities wanted to inspire eligible voters outside the country who are mostly supporting Erdogan’s party AKP party and guarantee the highest number of “yes” votes on a constitutional amendment proposal seeking to grant greater powers to president. “All this happened as Europe repeatedly spoke about human rights and freedoms”, she said.

Numerous rallies have been quite boisterous and authorities have expressed concerns about safety.

For Dutch and German voters who saw their Muslim populations as fifth columns, this episode has confirmed their perceptions of their illiberal neighbours.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands asked Turkey to desist as they feared “compromised public order and security”.

After Turkey’s family minister was escorted into Germany, Wilders tweeted: “go away and never come back”.

And so the Dutch did.

As matters escalated, a protester raised a Turkish flag at the Dutch consulate.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tried putting a stop to the skirmish.

“I was told to leave the country and return to Germany as soon as possible”, she added.

What else is at play here?

“Now the election is over in the Netherlands.when you look at the many parties you see there is no difference between the social democrats and fascist Wilders”, Mr Cavusoglu said.

Asli Aydintasbas is a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for Turkish daily Cumhuriyet.

In order to obtain more powers and tighten his grip on Turkey, Erdogan made a decision to proceed with the new referendum, and Turkish officials would go to Turkish embassies overseas to campaign for “Yes”. Erdogan responded by and fascism, i and later a.

At the European Parliament, EU leaders voiced solidarity with the Netherlands and condemned Nazi parallels drawn by Turkish officials.

Ankara was especially angered by the acts of The Netherlands days ahead of general elections in the country.

“The private sector, business world, tourists and the people of the Netherlands are not a part of the crisis”.

“You bar my minister from entering the Netherlands. and then you expect us to grant access (to migrants)?” Any conflict with the West is powerful fuel for Erdogan’s campaign, just as anti-immigrant sentiment is for populist politicians in Europe.

Turkey chose to halt any diplomatic connections between the two countries, including preventing diplomatic and political delegations from entering Turkey. The diplomatic ties between the two countries are now suspended. In 2016, trade between the two countries totaled $6.6 billion.

“If you look carefully, the European Union always talks about co-operating in the fight against terrorism and managing the migrant crisis”. He also accused the European Union of not sticking to a promise to grant Turkish nationals the right to travel visa-free in Europe. Turkey is pushing for an apology, calling the Dutch actions a violation of diplomatic conventions, and is threatening sanctions.