Turkey on Monday said it was suspending top-level ties with the Netherlands and blocking the return of its ambassador in a spiraling crisis over the holding of rallies abroad ahead of a crucial referendum.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of “supporting terrorists,” as acrimony flared between Turkey and EU states — a standoff that risks affecting Ankara’s entire relationship with Europe.
Both Germany and the Netherlands have blocked Turkish ministers from staging rallies to court the vote of expatriate Turks in the April 16 referendum on giving Erdogan greater powers.
Ankara was especially angered by the acts of the Netherlands days ahead of general elections in the nation. The authorities prevented the Turkish foreign minister’s plane from landing and expelled the Turkish family minister over the weekend.
“Until the Netherlands compensates for what it has done, high-level relations and planned meetings at a ministerial and higher level have been suspended,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara.
Turkey would not allow the Dutch ambassador to Turkey to return until the Netherlands meets Turkey’s conditions over holding rallies, he added. Diplomatic flights would also be suspended.
Dutch Ambassador to Turkey Kees Cornelis van Rij is currently outside of the country and business is being handled by the Dutch charge d’affaires.
Twice over the weekend Erdogan accused the Netherlands, a NATO ally, of acting like the Nazis.
His comments sparked outrage in a nation bombed and occupied by German forces in World War II.
The US urged both nations to resolve their row.
“They’re both strong partners and NATO allies. We’d just ask that they not escalate the situation any further and work together to resolve it,” said a senior US Department of State official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
With the exchanges worsening Turkey’s already fraught relations with the EU, Brussels sternly warned Ankara to avoid intensifying the crisis.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn called on Turkey to “refrain from excessive statements and actions that risk further exacerbating the situation.”
However, hours later in an interview with A Haber television, Erdogan bluntly stated: “Mrs Merkel, you are supporting terrorists.”
He accused Berlin of not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent by Ankara on terror suspects, including those linked to Kurdish militants and the failed coup in Turkey last year.
“Mrs Merkel, why are you hiding terrorists in your country? ... Why are you not doing anything?” Erdogan said.
Merkel’s spokesman described the accusations as “absurd,” adding that the chancellor had no intention of taking part in a “competition of provocations.”
Turkish Minister of EU Affairs Omer Celik also said Ankara “should re-evaluate” a key part of last year’s deal to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to the EU.
He said Turkey should look at its policy on preventing refugee and migrant flows across land borders, although it would keep halting the illegal and dangerous sea crossings as a matter of human responsibility, state media reported.
Dutch authorities at the weekend prevented the plane of Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing and blocked Turkish Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from holding a rally in Rotterdam.
Bringing out the millions-strong expatriate vote could be key in a referendum that could be a turning point in Turkey’s modern history.
Erdogan said the ministers would make the “necessary applications” to the European Court of Human Rights over their treatment.
Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is under pressure to take a hard line against Erdogan as he faces the far-right populist Geert Wilders in a general election today.
The Netherlands also issued a new travel warning to Dutch citizens, urging them to stay “alert across the whole of Turkey,” while Germany warned its citizens to take note of “increased political tensions and protests that could be directed against Germany.”
Turkey had already responded furiously to fellow NATO ally Germany’s refusal to give permission for ministers to hold rallies there, with Erdogan comparing such action to “Nazi practices.”
After Erdogan used the same language to scold the Netherlands, Merkel said on Monday that the comparison was “completely wrong” and “banalizes suffering.”
The issue risks spiraling into a crisis with the EU as a whole, which Turkey has sought to join for more than half a century.
Erdogan, who has indicated he might personally travel to EU states to address rallies said on Sunday that the West was showing its “true face” in the standoff.
However, the immediate effect of the row could aid Erdogan, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute.
“By blocking [the rallies], they may have given Erdogan a lifeline to eke out a victory in the referendum,” he said.
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