Netherlands refuses Turkish FM flight, Erdogan calls 'Nazi remnants'

RT
Sat, 11 Mar 2017 19:46 UTC

© Yasin Bulbul / Presidential Palace / Handout via Reuters

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has labeled Dutch authorities "Nazi remnants, fascists" in reaction to the government's withdrawal of permission for Turkey's foreign minister to land to speak at a pro-Erdogan rally in Rotterdam.

Dutch officials revoked authorization for Mevlut Cavusoglu's flight to land in Holland on Saturday, just hours after the foreign minister had warned that Turkey would retaliate by imposing sanctions on the Netherlands.

The move provoked a harsh reaction from Turkey's president, who criticized Holland's authorities as "Nazi remnants, fascists," as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily. He also warned that Dutch diplomats will, in turn, face difficulties in traveling to Turkey.

Responding to Erdogan's 'Nazi' comparison, Dutch PM Mark Rutte said that, while he understood Turkey's anger over the controversy, the comments are "way out of line," as quoted by Reuters.

Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d'affaires to its foreign ministry on Saturday over the controversy, according to sources cited by Reuters.

Cavusoglu had planned to attend a political rally in Rotterdam to drum up support among the city's Turkish residents for Erdogan's proposed overhaul of Turkey's constitution, which would dramatically increase the president's powers.

Local authorities in Germany recently canceled several similar political rallies for Turkish ex-pats as well, which also drew strong criticism from both Cavusoglu and Erdogan.

"This is systematic obstruction, and Germany is applying systematic pressure on our citizens. This is unacceptable. We always want to see Germany as a friend but Germany's systematic anti-Turkey approach does not suit our friendship," Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded by chastising Ankara for using Nazi references, saying they "trivialize" Nazi victims and are "unworthy of the close ties between Germany and Turkey."

Comment: On Saturday, Cavusoglu insisted that he would go ahead with his visit to Rotterdam even if local Dutch authorities did not agree to his taking part in a rally promoting a change in Turkey's constitution.

Cancelling the visit had been advocated by right-wing politician Geert Wilders, who secured a harsh dismissal from the Turkish top diplomat.

"Dutch Wilders acts like a Nazi," the Turkish minister said in an Saturday interview with CNNTurk. "He threatens the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic with not letting the airplane take off. But I will go today."

"If the Netherlands cancels my flight clearance today then we will impose huge sanctions," he added.

The rebuke came in reaction to the cancelation of Cavusoglu's appearance at a rally of Turkish citizens working in Europe. The Dutch snub is the latest in a series of similar measures taken by several European nations, including Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.