Dutch government bans Turkish ministers from speaking in Netherlands
After local German authorities banned Turkish officials from speaking in Germany last week, the Dutch government provoked a major diplomatic incident with Turkey this weekend, provocatively blocking two Turkish ministers from speaking events in the Netherlands.
This attack on democratic rights is part of a reactionary anti-Muslim campaign by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government in the run-up to the March 15 elections, attempting to stem the electoral rise of far-right candidate Geert Wilders by appealing to anti-immigrant and far-right sentiment. It came only after Wilders accused Rutte of being “too weak” to stop rallies by Turks in the Netherlands.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya were denied entry to the Netherlands, whose officials mounted a growing war of words with Turkey. The two ministers were due to speak at meetings to ask Turks living in the Netherlands to vote “yes” in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s constitutional referendum, scheduled for April 16, on transferring full powers to the Turkish presidency. People of Turkish origin in Europe, including 1.4 million in Germany and several hundred thousand in the Netherlands, are eligible to vote in the referendum.
Cavusoglu was to attend a pro-Yes rally in Rotterdam Saturday, but the venue owner cancelled the rally, citing safety concerns. When Cavusoglu said that he would come anyway and threatened the Netherlands with economic sanctions if he was refused entry, the Dutch cabinet blocked his flight from landing, citing the risk of clashes between supporters and opponents of Erdoğan in the Turkish immigrant community. “We are of the opinion that Dutch public spaces are not the place for political campaigns of other countries,” Rutte declared.
Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/03/13/dutc-m13.html
