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Erdogan Calls Dutch ‘Nazi Remnants’ After Turkish Minister Is Barred Erdogan Calls Dutch ‘Nazi Remnants’ After Turkish Minister Is Barred
(about 13 hours later)
PARIS — The Dutch government on Saturday intensified a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and its NATO allies in Europe by barring the Turkish foreign minister from flying into the Netherlands to campaign on behalf of a referendum that would vastly augment the power of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. PARIS — The Dutch government on Saturday intensified a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and its NATO allies in Europe by refusing to let the Turkish foreign minister fly into the Netherlands to campaign on behalf of a referendum that would augment the power of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.
In response, Mr. Erdogan compared the Dutch to “fascists” and “Nazi remnants,” echoing the description he used for the Germans last Sunday, after two Turkish politicians scrapped rallies in Germany when the government said their safety could not guaranteed. In response, Mr. Erdogan compared the Dutch to “fascists” and said they were “Nazi remnants,” echoing the description he used for the Germans last Sunday, after two Turkish politicians campaigning for Mr. Erdogan scrapped rallies when the German government told them it could not guarantee their safety.
French officials, however, will allow a meeting on Sunday of the Turkish minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, with Turks in Metz, a city in the northeast, to go ahead. Mr. Erdogan accused Germany of using “Nazi practices” to block him from campaigning, drawing a rebuke from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who called the comparison “completely unacceptable” and said the remarks trivialized the suffering of the Nazis’ victims.
Small groups waving Turkish flags gathered by the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, ABC said. A protest also occurred outside the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam. French officials, however, allowed the Turkish minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to attend and speak at a gathering of Turks in Metz, a city in the northeast, on Sunday. Germany and Switzerland have banned similar gatherings where Turkish officials were to speak.
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said on Facebook that Turkey had sabotaged discussions over the visit by Mr. Cavusoglu. Turkey threatened sanctions, he said, making “a reasonable solution impossible.” Saturday night into early Sunday, groups of Turks gathered in front of the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, waving the Turkish flag, chanting and singing the Turkish national anthem, according to ABC. A man scaled the roof of the Dutch consulate and replaced the Netherlands’ flag with the Turkish one, according to The Associated Press.
Many European governments oppose Mr. Erdogan’s bid to expand his power and say he has shown dictatorial tendencies. A protest outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam turned to rioting, and the police in Rotterdam arrested 12 people. A police spokeswoman, Patricia Wessels, told The A.P. that protesters pelted officers with bottles and rocks, and law enforcement officials responded with dogs, baton charges and a water cannon. Ms. Wessels said seven people were injured, including a police officer who broke his hand.
The Turkish leader is eager to campaign in Europe to bolster the April referendum’s chances because millions of Turks live there, mostly in Germany and France. About 400,000 Turks reside in the Netherlands, according to the Dutch government. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, appeared to be trying to defuse the situation on Sunday after posting a government statement on his Facebook page that said Turkey had sabotaged discussions between the two countries over a visit by Mr. Cavusoglu to Rotterdam. Turkey then threatened sanctions, the statement said, making “a reasonable solution impossible.”
“The Dutch-Turkish society here is still with one leg in their mother country,” said Enis Odaci, the deputy editor of the Nieuwwij news website. “And now Erdogan comes along and asks loyalty.” Mr. Rutte, whose party is in a tight race with Geert Wilders’s anti-Islam party in the elections set for Wednesday, said on Sunday that it was important for his government not to give in to Turkish pressure.
A key factor in the Dutch decision is elections set for March 15; Mr. Rutte’s party is running slightly ahead of Geert Wilders’s far-right party. Mr. Wilders opposed the Turkish visit, and Mr. Rutte soon took the same line. “Turkey is a proud nation; the Netherlands is a proud nation. We can never do business under those sorts of threats and blackmail,” he said, referring to Turkey’s threat of sanctions.
Mr. Erdogan appeared to take a tit-for-tat approach to the Dutch move, saying in Istanbul on Saturday, “From now on, let’s see how your flights will land in Turkey.” Many European governments actively oppose the efforts by Mr. Erdogan to expand his power and say he has shown dictatorial tendencies by imprisoning thousands of people after a coup attempt last year. The list includes journalists, human rights workers, political opponents and many Kurds — people seen as a threat to his power.
The Turkish leader is eager to campaign in Europe to bolster the referendum’s chances because several million Turks live there, principally in Germany and France. An estimated 400,000 Turks reside in the Netherlands and many have dual nationality, according to the Dutch government.
The votes of European Turks on the referendum, scheduled for April, could make the difference between Mr. Erdogan’s gaining more power or being checked by his people.
This debate is playing out on many levels, both for Turks and for the Dutch, with the subtext being whether the referendum is acceptable to a majority of Turks living in the Netherlands who have two passports and two identities.
“The Dutch-Turkish society here is still with one leg in their mother country,” said Enis Odaci, the deputy editor of the Nieuwwij news website.
“And now Erdogan comes along and asks loyalty. He says, ‘Give me your vote because you are Turkish people,’ not Dutch-Turkish, German-Turkish or French-Turkish. And that is very, very delicate in the international debate about Islam and integration and migration.”
Mr. Odaci, whose father came to the Netherlands from Turkey decades ago, added: “Dutch politics and politicians are questioning how can you contribute to this Dutch society, but you are still willing to vote for a man who is heading toward a dictatorship or a theocracy. What the Dutch are asking is: ‘Can you have two loyalties? Can you have two identities?’”
The diplomatic row comes as the nation’s parliamentary elections are set for March 15. Mr. Rutte’s party is running slightly ahead of Mr. Wilders’s far-right Party for Freedom, which opposes immigration and campaigns against any overt signs of Islam in Dutch society.
Mr. Wilders vocally opposed the visit by the Turkish foreign minister in recent days, and Mr. Rutte, who is trying to maintain his narrow lead, soon took the same line. Now other Dutch politicians are voicing their approval of the government’s latest move.
After the Netherlands withdrew permission for Mr. Cavusoglu to fly into the country as negotiations to hold a rally there on behalf of the Turkish referendum broke down, Mr. Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday, “Ban our foreign minister from flying however much you like, but from now on, let’s see how your flights will land in Turkey.”
Mr. Wilders retorted in Dutch on Twitter: “Oh yes, and I say to all Turks in the Netherlands who agree with Erdogan, go to Turkey and never come back.”
Adding to the growing crisis was a tense standoff outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam on Saturday night, when Turkey’s family and social policies minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, tried to attend the gathering there but was escorted back to the German border, according to The A.P.
Mr. Erdogan continued to denounce the Dutch move on Sunday, saying that the Netherlands would “pay the price” for the “shameless” treatment of the foreign minister.
Whether blocking the campaigning will achieve the Dutch politicians’ goal is not clear. Mr. Odaci, the editor, said that in a way, the Dutch handed Mr. Erdogan a weapon with which to rally Dutch-Turks from afar by declaring them second-class citizens deprived of freedom of speech.
Some of Mr. Erdogan’s opponents, however, have noted that while the Turkish president is vigorously defending his right to free speech in Europe, he is eroding that right for Turks at home.