Turkey says ‘Nazi remnant’ dispute with Dutch has ended
Ankara mends ties with Netherlands following 2017 row, after The Hague barred officials campaigning on its soil for Turkish referendum
Turkey’s foreign minister said Wednesday that the country is working with the Netherlands to end diplomatic tensions and that the days when Ankara described Dutch policies as “Nazi remnants” are behind them.
Turkey and the Netherlands reinstated ambassadors last month following a dispute triggered by a Dutch decision to bar Turkish officials from campaigning on Dutch soil for a 2017 referendum on increasing the powers of the president. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the term “Nazi remnants” to criticize the Netherlands.
“Today is a positive day in relations,” Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said at a joint news conference on Wednesday with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Cavusoglu insisted that Turkey had never accused the Dutch people of being “Nazis.”
He added, “As we agreed, we left those days behind.”
The Dutch decision in March, 2017, to ban Cavusoglu from visiting and holding a rally in the port city of Rotterdam came after Germany and other European nations also saw moves to block campaign events.
Unlike in Germany, however, where a string of planned rallies were barred by local authorities, in the Netherlands it was the government that stepped in to block Cavusoglu’s visit.
“They are the vestiges of the Nazis, they are fascists,” Erdogan had told an Istanbul rally, days after he angrily compared moves to block rallies in Germany to “Nazi practices.”
“Ban our foreign minister from flying however much you like, but from now on let’s see how your flights will land in Turkey,” Erdogan said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at the time that Erdogan was “way out of line,” Reuters reported.
The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin, and Ankara had wanted to harness votes of the diaspora in Europe ahead of the referendum.
