Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as 'Nazi' row escalates

[webfact]

Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as 'Nazi' row escalates

By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Tulay Karadeniz

REUTERS

 

Demonstrators clash with riot police during running battles in the streets near the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands March 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

 

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it would suspend high-level diplomatic relations with the Netherlands after Dutch authorities prevented its ministers from speaking at rallies of expatriate Turks, deepening the row between the two NATO allies.

 

The sanctions - which include a ban on the Dutch ambassador and diplomatic flights from the Netherlands but do not appear to include economic measures or travel restrictions for ordinary citizens - mark another low point in relations between Turkey and the European Union, which it still officially aims to join.

 

President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking Turkish voters' support in an April 16 referendum on boosting his powers as head of state, has previously accused the Dutch government of acting like "Nazi remnants" for barring his ministers from addressing expatriate Turks to drum up votes.

 

The row is likely to further dim Ankara's prospects of EU membership. It also comes as Turkey wrestles with security concerns over militant attacks and the war in neighbouring Syria.

 

"We are doing exactly what they did to us. We are not allowing planes carrying Dutch diplomats or envoys from landing in Turkey or using our airspace," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. "Those creating this crisis are responsible for fixing it."

 

Kurtulmus, the government's chief spokesman, also threatened to scrap Turkey's deal to stop the flow of migrants into Europe, saying the agreement may need to be re-evaluated. He said high-level government meetings would be suspended between the two countries until the Netherlands had atoned for its actions.

 

Earlier Erdogan threatened to take the Dutch to the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Turkey also summoned the Dutch charge d'affaires on Monday to complain about the ban - imposed due to fears of unrest and also to Dutch distaste at what Europe sees as an increasingly authoritarian tone from Erdogan - and the actions of police against Turkish protesters in Rotterdam over the weekend, foreign ministry sources said.

 

DOGS, WATER CANNON

 

On Sunday, Dutch police used dogs and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some protesters threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.

 

"The Turkish community and our citizens were subject to bad treatment, with inhumane and humiliating methods used in disproportionate intervention against people exercising their right to peaceful assembly," a statement attributed to ministry sources said.

 

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 back to Germany.

 

Protests then erupted in Turkey and the Netherlands.

 

Several European countries have stopped Turkish politicians holding rallies, due to fears that tensions in Turkey might spill over into their expatriate communities.

 

Some 400,000 Turkish citizens live in the Netherlands and an estimated 1.5 million Turkish voters live in Germany.

 

On Monday evening Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said he would try to prohibit Turkish ministers from campaigning in his country too for "reasons of public security".

 

The Dutch government said the visits were untimely ahead of a national election on Wednesday, in which polls suggest it may lose about half its seats due to expected big gains by the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders.

 

Monday was the third time the Dutch envoy had been called in since Saturday over the row. The Dutch ambassador is on leave and the Turkish foreign ministry says it does not want him back "for some time".

 

The European Union's executive arm said on Monday that the bloc would assess Turkey's planned constitutional changes in light of the country's status as a candidate EU membership, and called on Ankara to refrain from statements and actions that could further fuel the diplomatic row.

 

SANCTIONS

 

Dutch direct investment in Turkey amounts to $22 billion, making the Netherlands the biggest source of foreign investment with a share of 16 percent.

 

Ozgur Altug, chief economist at BGC Partners in Istanbul, said at this stage he did not foresee the row having serious short-term economic consequences.

 

"However, if the tension escalates and if countries start imposing sanctions against each other, it might have serious implications for the Turkish economy," he said.

 

Turkish exports to the Netherlands totalled $3.6 billion in 2016, making it the tenth largest market for Turkish goods, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. Turkey imported $3 billion worth of Dutch goods in 2016.

 

Dutch visitors are important to Turkey's tourism industry, which was hit hard in 2016 by security fears due to attacks by Islamic State and Kurdish militants. Some 900,000 Dutch people visited Turkey last year, down from 1.2 million a year earlier.

 

Ankara is seeking an official written apology for the treatment of its family minister and diplomats in Rotterdam, the Turkish foreign ministry sources also said.

 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said it is Erdogan who should apologise for comparing the Netherlands to fascists and Nazis, adding that Turkey was acting "in a totally unacceptable, irresponsible manner".

 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called on Turkey and the Netherlands to defuse the row.

 

At the weekend, Erdogan dubbed the Netherlands "Nazi remnants" and said "Nazism is still widespread in the West", comments echoed in Turkish media on Monday.

 

"Nazi Dogs," said a front-page headline incorporating a swastika in the pro-government Aksam newspaper, above a photo of a police dog biting the thigh of a man during Saturday night's protest in Rotterdam.

 

(Additional reporting by Ebru Tuncay in Istanbul, Ercan Gurses in Ankara and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels; Writing by Daren Butler and David Dolan; Editing by Giles Elgood and Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-14

[darksidedog]

To my mind, Turkey is behaving like a spoilt brat and is doing itself no favours whatsoever. Since the attempted coup things have been going downhill.

Erdogan has shown himself to be brutal and in search of as much power as he can get his hands on. Civil liberties in the country have been very seriously eroded.

To escalate the situation and start accusing first Germany and now Holland of Nazism, is just pathetic and seriously stupid.

No one in the international community os going to give Turkey any respect until it starts getting its house in order and apologises.

[phantomfiddler]

And to think that these people are trying to become part of the E.U. !

[4737 Carlin]

I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in Turkey ? Perhaps these 'Dutch' Turks should move back to Turkey if they're so concerned about this referendum.

[bandito]

There are Turks with double nationality in the Dutch police force and the Dutch Army.

Hope it will not come to a war between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Get it?

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

And to think that these people are trying to become part of the E.U. !

Right.  Respect for Turkey's leaders is dripping down faster than Greece off a wounded Turkey's body.

[Tchooptip]

45 minutes ago, 4737 Carlin said:

I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in Turkey ? Perhaps these 'Dutch' Turks should move back to Turkey if they're so concerned about this referendum.

"I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in Turkey" 

I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in any contries 

[whatawonderfulday]

Now whoever in the EU parliament over the years have blocked Turkey from becoming a member of the EU were really being prophetical. Imagine Erdogan and his Muslim terrorists being able to walk freely throughout Europe ?

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

"I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in Turkey" 

I wonder if foreign political rallies are allowed to take place in any contries 

They would be allowed in the USA. No question. Well, no question until Trump came along.

[ddavidovsky]

Volatile, irrational, petulant, and aggressive - Turkey has spectacularly managed to alienate itself from the club it wished to join. Many Europeans are probably relieved that the Turkish question has now made easy for them.

[thaibeachlovers]

IMO all good. The more Erdogan calls the Dutch Nazis etc ( is the guy really so stupid he doesn't know what the Nazis did to Holland in WW2? ) more votes will go to Wilders.

[Zyxel]

Why comparisons with the Nazi Germany? He had so much to choose from Turkey history, the Armenian genocide or the Ottoman Empire ethnic cleansing.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

Well, no question until Trump came along.

Not quite.

Mexican Presidential Candidate Slams Trump at US Rally

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/17/mexico-presidential-election-candidate-lopez-obrador-donald-trump-wall-california

US still the land for freedom of expression.

[elgordo38]

Yes like the movie Dr. Strangelove there seems to be a strange love affair between Erogan and his people. He creates a mysterious boogeyman and beats it over the head and people cheer. 

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, Zyxel said:

Why comparisons with the Nazi Germany? He had so much to choose from Turkey history, the Armenian genocide or the Ottoman Empire ethnic cleansing.

Up until the 20th century the Ottoman empire was very tolerant of minorities. The majority of the population in Istanbul, the capital, was non-Muslim. In fact the Ottoman empire took in lots of Jews after they were expelled from Spain by the Christians.

In the Balkans, the Orthodox Church continued to thrive.

[pitrevie]

5 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

And to think that these people are trying to become part of the E.U. !

Yes and to think the UK Foreign Secretary said that he would do everything to help them become members of the EU, while withdrawing the UK from EU membership, funny old world isn't it.

[alocacoc]

If, the EU country's would stay together, and impose sanctions against Turkey, Turkey would be like a fart in the wind. Remember how Russia forced Turkey to apologize. The EU could do it as well. Easily. But not with Muppets like Merkel, Hollande and Co.


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Sydebolle]

Erdogan will be history anytime soon anyway. Until then keep Turkey off the EU-talks, let him behave like a spoilt kindergartener whose toys have been taken away and get on with life.

The less attention the whole story gets the faster it will disappear into thin air; he's not worth this limelight visibility - seriously. Alternatively some boys from Albania or Macedonia can be sent in to clean up. 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, alocacoc said:

If, the EU country's would stay together, and impose sanctions against Turkey, Turkey would be like a fart in the wind. Remember how Russia forced Turkey to apologize. The EU could do it as well. Easily. But not with Muppets like Merkel, Hollande and Co.


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 

Are you proposing the member states give up on their individual foreign policies? Or only in this case, with the evil muslims at the border?

[snowgard]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Earlier Erdogan threatened to take the Dutch to the European Court of Human Rights.

Erdogan at his best!!! Him gives a shit on human rights and .....

 

[ilostmypassword]

5 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Erdogan will be history anytime soon anyway. Until then keep Turkey off the EU-talks, let him behave like a spoilt kindergartener whose toys have been taken away and get on with life.

The less attention the whole story gets the faster it will disappear into thin air; he's not worth this limelight visibility - seriously. Alternatively some boys from Albania or Macedonia can be sent in to clean up. 

As the British learned at Gallipoli, those Turks are pushovers. And after WW1 when the French and other Europeans invaded Turkey to finish dismembering the Ottoman Empire, the Turks beat them back. During the Korean War, the Turkish P.O.W.'s  were the only ones the North Koreans and Chinese didn't manage to break.  We see from Sydebolle the same kind of attitude that got the USA mired in Iraq: contempt.  Very self indulgent and very self-destructive. The Turks are a very tough and very martial. You have to be to hold on to the real estate they occupy.

[pkspeaker]

well gee ilostmypassword, looks like the turks are so excellent with their ww1 triumph(they got beat by lawrence and a band of sword and musket armed beduins) and they can't be broke by koreans.. then why do 1.5 million of them live in the netherlands?  1.5 million erdogan supports back to turkey so they can vote for him will solve the problem.. and you forgot that other turkish accomplishment during ww1-the extermination of millions of armenians, they have so much to be proud of from that ww1 triumph. 

Edited March 14, 2017 by pkspeaker

[stevenl]

Erdogan will be history anytime soon anyway. Until then keep Turkey off the EU-talks, let him behave like a spoilt kindergartener whose toys have been taken away and get on with life.

The less attention the whole story gets the faster it will disappear into thin air; he's not worth this limelight visibility - seriously. Alternatively some boys from Albania or Macedonia can be sent in to clean up. 

Why would Erdogan be history soon? He'll be the elected dictator soon, free to do as he pleases.

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[ilostmypassword]

18 minutes ago, pkspeaker said:

well gee ilostmypassword, looks like the turks are so excellent with their ww1 triumph(they got beat by lawrence and a band of sword and musket armed beduins) and they can't be broke by koreans.. then why do 1.5 million of them live in the netherlands?  1.5 million erdogan supports back to turkey so they can vote for him will solve the problem.. and you forgot that other turkish accomplishment during ww1-the extermination of millions of armenians, they have so much to be proud of from that ww1 triumph. 

The Turks weren't fighting for their homeland in Arabia.

Once again, they whupped the British and other commonwealth nations at Gallipoli.  The young Turks under Ataturk drove back far better equipped armies when European nations sought to dismember Turkey.  And I don't see what a large emigre population has to do with the Turks' ability as fighters. Can you explain the connection? Nor, for that matter, the genocide of the Armenians. Are you saying that German soldiers were pushovers because of Jewish and Romany genocide? In both cases, completely irrelevant to their martial qualities.

[Trouble]

Kind of stupid using the Nazism thing considering what the Turks did to the Armenians.   Maybe someone in the Dutch government should remind Erdogan of that publicly.

[stevenl]

Kind of stupid using the Nazism thing considering what the Turks did to the Armenians.   Maybe someone in the Dutch government should remind Erdogan of that publicly.

Maybe they did. Difference is Erdogan I'd a populist seeking the confrontation publicly, the Dutch are being diplomatic.

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