Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was in Germany for different meetings. Though several of her events in the Netherlands have been cancelled, she intended to travel to the country anyway, and arrived earlier today, Reuters reports.
Early on March 11, the Dutch government cancelled landing permission for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, citing security concerns. Cavusoglu was to meet with Turks in the Netherlands to drum up support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the coming Turkish referendum that would give more powers to the presidency.
The Dutch government's decision prompted Erdogan to call them "Nazi remnants."
Prime Minister Mark Rutte had previously said they did not want Cavusoglu holding rallies in the Netherlands. On Saturday, Rutte called the Turkish president's remarks "crazy."
"I understand they are angry but this is of course way out of line," he said during a campaign rally in the southern Netherlands, AP reported. Rutte maintained that it was incorrect "for Turkish ministers to campaign in the Netherlands among Dutch people —with potentially a Turkish passport, yes — but first of all Dutch people."
He also said that despite the tensions, the Netherlands wants a good relationship with Turkey. "We will do everything to keep the relations with Turkey as good as possible, as strong as possible," Rutte said.
According to the Daily Sabah, Kaya was originally scheduled to speak with the Turkish community in the Dutch towns of Hengelo, Enschede and Wehl as well as in Cologne, Germany. She then was expected to meet with the Turkish community in Cavusoglu's place. However, the street in front of the Turkish consul's residence in Rotterdam, where the foreign minister was due to address Turkish citizens, has been blocked by Dutch police.
Organizers of the cancelled Rotterdam rally with Cavusolglu called for calm and asked Turkish citizens to stay home. They also called the decision to block the Turkish minister "undemocratic and counter to the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression."
Cavusoglu later on Saturday, speaking at Istanbul's international airport, called the decision to deny his landing rights and cancel his rallies "a scandal in every way" that "cannot be accepted."
"So they cancelled it due to security concerns, what, so is the minister a terrorist?" he asked the crowd, AP reported.
Both the rally organizers and the foreign minister have suggested that Turkish voters will in response vote to give Erdogan more powers in the upcoming referendum the rallies intended to support. Most of Europe sees the move as bad for democracy in Turkey.
