Erdogan calls Dutch government ‘Nazis’ after Netherlands bar Turkish ministers

Turkey told the Netherlands on Sunday that it would retaliate in the “harshest ways” after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam in a row over Ankara’s political campaigning among Turkish expatriates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan branded the Netherlands, a fellow NATO member, a “Nazi remnant” and the dispute escalated into a diplomatic incident on Saturday evening when Turkey’s family minister was prevented by police from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.

“You can stop our foreign minister's plane all you want, let's see how your planes will come to Turkey from now on,” Mr Erdogan told booing crowds.

"Listen Netherlands, you'll jump once, you'll jump twice, but my people will thwart your game," he said. "You can cancel our foreign minister's flight as much as you want, but let's see how your flights will come to Turkey now," Erdogan said.

"They don't know diplomacy or politics. They are Nazi remnants. They are fascists," he said, just days after using the same label against the German government over cancellations.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Dutch Embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara, despite the street where it is located being sealed off by police. Demonstrators waved Turkish and Ottoman flags, shouted anti-Dutch slogans and some threw eggs, according to state-run TRT Television.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, called the remarks “crazy” at a campaign event. “I understand they're angry, but this of course was way out of line,” he added.

The diplomatic row was triggered after Dutch authorities prevented Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam ahead of a rally supporting expanded powers for Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Similarly, Turkey's family minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, said on Twitter she was being escorted back to Germany.

The Dutch government, which stands to lose heavily to the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders in elections next week, said it considered the visits undesirable and “the Netherlands could not cooperate in the public political campaigning of Turkish ministers in the Netherlands."

A spokesperson for the Dutch government said the move was taken because of “risks to public order and security” caused by the proposed visit by Mevlut Cavusoglu to Rotterdam on Saturday. 

A statement added that while the Netherlands and Turkey could search for “an acceptable solution”, Ankara was not respecting the rules relating to public gatherings.

“Many Dutch people with a Turkish background are authorised to vote in the referendum over the Turkish constitution,” it said. 

“The Dutch government does not have any opposition to gatherings in our country to inform them about it. But these gatherings are not allowed to contribute to tensions in our society and everyone who wants to hold a gathering is obliged to follow instructions of those in authority, so that public order and safety can be guaranteed.”

The government said it saw the potential to import divisions into its own Turkish minority, which has both pro- and anti-Erdogan camps. Dutch politicians across the spectrum said they supported Prime Minister Mark Rutte's decision to ban the visits.

In a statement issued early on Sunday, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey had told Dutch authorities it would retaliate in the "harshest ways" and "respond in kind to this unacceptable behaviour".

Turkey's foreign ministry said it did not want the Dutch ambassador to Ankara to return from leave "for some time". Turkish authorities sealed off the Dutch embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul in apparent retaliation and hundreds gathered there for protests at the Dutch action.

Erdogan is looking to the large number of expats Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help clinch victory next month in a referendum that would give the presidency sweeping new powers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do everything possible to prevent Turkish political tensions spilling onto German soil. Four rallies in Austria and one in Switzerland have been cancelled due to the growing dispute.

Erdogan has cited domestic threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants and a July coup bid as cause to vote "yes" to his new powers. But he has also drawn on the emotionally charged row with Europe to portray Turkey as betrayed by allies while facing wars on its southern borders.