Why Diplomacy Is Deteriorating Between Turkey And The Netherlands

The flag went up in flames as protesters recited the Turkish national anthem amid heightened tension after the Netherlands refused to allow two Turkish ministers to enter the country for campaign rallies.

Turkey may apply economic sanctions against the Netherlands in the near future, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN Turk a day after Ankara announced a series of high-level diplomatic sanctions.

“We know the Netherlands and the Dutch from the Srebrenica massacre”, he said.

The minister also said that, by preventing Turkish citizens from meeting with an official from their government, Holland’s authorities were effectively holding them hostage.

Wilders had called on the Dutch government to bar Turkish ministers from the Netherlands until after the election.

The rallies were meant to shore up support from the overseas Turkish population for a constitutional referendum, slated for April, that would give Erdogan sweeping new powers as president. “A new Nazism tendency”, he said.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality city council has unilaterally terminated its sister city protocol with the Dutch city of Rotterdam following tensions between Turkey and the Netherlands, according to a municipality statement on Wednesday.

Allies of the Turkish President are targeting more than a million Turkish voters living in Europe who will be eligible to cast a ballot in the vote on 16 April.

Turkey is due to hold a referendum on April 16 on whether to extend the presidential powers available to Erdogan and the support from Turkish citizens based in other European Union countries, such as the Netherlands, is viewed as critical by the president.

Turkey is also seeking an apology from the Netherlands over what it says are practices contravening diplomatic norms.

Rutte’s government was angered by Erdogan referring to the Dutch as “Nazis” and for his determination to hold a campaign rally on Saturday among Dutch Turks on Dutch soil without a permit. “You can cancel our foreign minister’s flight as much as you want, but let’s see how your flights will come to Turkey now”.