Sunday, March 12, 2017

ELECTION FERVOR CAUSES TURKO-DUTCH SPAT

Four days prior to the Dutch general elections a serious diplomatic spat has broken out between the Netherlands and Turkey over the demand by Turkey to campaign in the Netherlands for yet another Erdogan power grab. After the Governments were unable to negotiate terms and Erdogan called the Dutch Government 'Nazi remnants' the Dutch liberal PM decided to take a stand. 


The Dutch government on Saturday withdrew landing permission for the Turkish foreign minister's aircraft (...) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised retaliation against Dutch diplomatic flights. "You can stop our foreign minister's plane all you want, let's see how your planes will come to Turkey from now on," Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul. "They do not know politics or international diplomacy," said Erdogan and added, "these Nazi remnants, they are fascists" with the crowds booing.

Earlier Saturday, in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Turk, Cavusoglu said: "If the Netherlands cancels my flight permit, our sanctions to the Netherlands would be heavy." He also repeated the government's charges that bans on rallies are "fascist practices."

The constitutional changes would give the president more powers. The Kurdisch newsoutlet Rudaw reported earlier that the move by the Dutch authorities comes a day after some European countries banned political campaigns by Turkish parties in European cities. (Source)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at an awards ceremony in Istanbul. read more:  "I thought Nazism was dead, but I was wrong. Nazism is still widespread in the West," Erdogan said. "The West has shown its true face." 

Speaking to reporters before a public appearance in the northeastern French city of Metz, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue to act against the Netherlands until it apologises. In a statement issued early on Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would retaliate in the "harshest ways". 

The diplomatic row comes just days before the Netherlands goes to the polls in a March 15 election for the lower house of Parliament. The campaign has been dominated by issues of identity, with anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders set to make strong gains. Ahead of Saturday's decision, Wilders had accused the government of a weak response to Turkish plans to send ministers to the Netherlands to campaign. (Source)

The worst part of this episode came on Saturday when the Turkish Government ordered its Minister for Family Affairs to travel from Germany to the Netherlands in stealth, in direct defiance of the Dutch decision. What amounted to an invasion by a representative of a foreign power could eaily be interpreted as an act of war. She called her deportation a violation of her human rights. 

Muslims are clueless in that respect. They often confuse individual human rights with the rights of Islam. 



The Mayor of Rotterdam says the Turkish Consul lied to him about the intentions of the Foreign Minister. The Mayor -- of Moroccan descent -- was especially irked by the Nazi slur: "Don't they know that this city was bombed by the Nazis?"


The Dutch PM was wondering this morning if the lock down of the Dutch Embassy and its Consulates in Turkey was protection or an act of aggression. Apparently he was unaware of what had happened at the Consulate in Istanbul. 


Haaretz writes today: 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would do everything to "de-escalate" the confrontation, which he described as the worst the Netherlands had experienced in years. But he said the idea of apologizing was "bizarre". "This is a man who yesterday made us out for fascists and a country of Nazis. I'm going to de-escalate, but not by offering apologies. Are you nuts?" he told a morning talk show. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do all she can to prevent Turkey's domestic tensions spreading onto German territory. Austria and Switzerland have also cancelled Turkish rallies due to the escalating dispute. A senior member of her conservative bloc in parliament, Hans Michelbach, demanded on Sunday that the EU stop aid to Turkey and ruled out any hopes that it would join the EU. (Source)


This is what happened in Mayor Aboutaleb's Nazi bombed city of Rotterdam on Saturday night:


If PM Rutte pulled this stunt to gather the voters behind the Government, his decision came up short. He achieved basically nothing, but ensured a victory for Geert Wilders'  Freedom Party next Wednesday.



Mar 11, 2017 Geert Wilders has a message for the Turks.


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