5 February 2018 - 22:11

Netherlands withdraws ambassador from Turkey

<p style="text-align:left">Relations between the Netherlands and Turkey deteriorated last year after Dutch authorities had banned a Turkish minister from attending a demonstration prior to a referendum that gave Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more power.

"NL & Turkey have tried to reach an agreement on how to normalize bilateral relations. However, talks do not yet offer sufficient perspective on a settlement. Therefore, NL officially withdraws its Ambassador to Turkey. A pause in negotiations is in place," Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlsra said in a tweet.

Commenting on Erdogan's statement that Turkey should be granted EU membership, a European Commission representative Alexander Winterstein said that the country wasn't heading toward EU membership, but rather moving in the opposite direction, Sputnik reported.

After the Dutch authorities barred Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing in the country to meet with the Turkish expats, Erdogan labeled the Dutch authorities' behavior as "Nazism."

Following Erdogan's statement, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that Turkey must apologize for such a comment.

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