Turkey-Netherlands Crisis: High-level Talks Halted as Erdogan Imposes Sanctions
Local Editor
Turkey halted all high-level talks with Dutch government officials and closed its airspace to the country's diplomats as it makes good on a promise to impose sanctions against the Netherlands.
In the latest escalation of a diplomatic spat that erupted at the weekend between Ankara and Amsterdam, Turkish officials said all meetings with their Dutch counterparts would be cancelled.
The action comes after the Dutch government withdrew permission for Turkey's Foreign Minister to land in the Netherlands for a rally aimed at boosting support for an upcoming referendum that could hand more powers to the president.
Turkey's family affairs minister was also removed from the country when she drove to the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
On Sunday night, Dutch riot police were called in to end a protest by Turks in Amsterdam and arrested 13 people, using dogs and a water cannon to disperse the protesters.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that his government would carry out "whatever diplomatic sanctions" they had to punish the Dutch.
He said two cabinet ministers would apply to the European human rights court over their treatment in the Netherlands.
And he advised Turks living elsewhere in Europe not to vote for anti-Turkish parties, ahead of a national election in the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned a Dutch diplomat to formally protest the expulsion of a Turkish minister and what it said was a "disproportionate" use of force against demonstrators.
It follows a rally in Turkey on Saturday when Erdogan branded the Netherlands "Nazi remnants, fascists" and vowed to retaliate against them.
In response, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Erdogan should apologize for acting "in a totally unacceptable, irresponsible manner".
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also called on Turkey and the Netherlands to defuse the row.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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