16 March 2017•Update: 17 March 2017
By Ayse Yildiz
ANTALYA, Turkey
There is no difference between the social democrat and fascist parties in the Netherlands, said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Thursday, one day after Dutch polls saw the ruling center-right party hold off an extreme-right challenge and secure an apparent third term.
“The election is done. The votes they got are close, around 17-20 percent -- so many political parties, but when you look at it there is no difference between the social democrats and fascist [Geert] Wilders, they all have the same mentality,” Cavusoglu said in Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya.
His remarks came amid a row between Ankara and Amsterdam over Dutch authorities blocking government ministers from campaigning in the Netherlands for next month’s Turkish constitutional referendum.
“You have started to cause Europe to collapse, you are taking Europe to a cliff. Soon religious wars will begin in Europe,” he added.
With nearly 95 percent of Wednesday’s votes counted, Dutch Prime Minister Rutte appears set for a third term as his center-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Party (VVD) got the largest share of seats in parliament, 33 out of 150, down from 41 in the 2012 polls.
On Saturday, Dutch authorities blocked Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from holding events in Rotterdam.
Protesting Turkish nationals were dispersed by police using batons, dogs, and water cannons.
'They asked for a list'
Cavusoglu said if what had happened in the Netherlands had happened elsewhere, the Dutch government would have started lecturing them on democracy.
“Is this your understanding of humanity and freedom?” he asked.
He added that Turkey has already begun taking retaliatory measures and that these would continue.
In a televised interview Wednesday night, Cavusoglu said that before his flight to Rotterdam last weekend was denied permission to land, Dutch officials demanded a list of people who would attend his rallies, or else the flight permit would be .
"I told them I would like to meet with Turkish citizens and I wouldn’t necessarily give them the list of the people," he said, adding that he had asked the officials if they would put those people on a blacklist.
"This sort of thing isn’t done," said Cavusoglu.
"We refused their demands and they sent a letter saying that they had my flight permit," he added. "If Turkey had acted as lawlessly as the Netherlands did that night, we would have called Netherlands' charges [in Turkey] and put him behind bars."
As the Dutch ambassador to Turkey is away, and Ankara has told him not to return, the Netherlands is currently represented at the charges level.
