The Reuters picture above of supporters of Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan are not from Istanbul or Ankara, but from riots overnight in Rotterdam that threaten the stability of the Netherlands ahead of Dutch parliamentary elections later this week.
The Rotterdam riots, which required a state of emergency to be declared by the Dutch government, are part of a larger unfolding drama involving provocations by the Turkish government inciting millions of Turkish citizens living in European countries.
The current crisis began when the Dutch government prevented the Turkish foreign minister from landing in the Netherlands to hold a political rally in Rotterdam in support of dictator Erdogan and an upcoming referendum in Turkey intended to give Erdogan more power. The foreign minister then landed in Metz, France.
UPDATE Turkish foreign minister’s plane landed at Metz, France https://t.co/7ZntG9CTuW pic.twitter.com/I4C1vQbK0S
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/CNNTURK_ENG/status/840509418139766785
"#Netherlands cancels landing permission for #Turkey's foreign minister" https://t.co/6ZHvwD2a0a
— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) March 11, 2017
Dutch Government's stance reflected in such a deplorable decision is no different than Wilders racist and fascist mind.
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) March 11, 2017
Reuters reports:
Several hundred demonstrators waving Turkish flags gathered outside the Turkish consulate in the Dutch city of Rotterdam on Saturday, demanding to see the Turkish minister for family affairs as a dispute between the two countries escalated.
Police erected metal barriers and patrolled on horseback to keep the demonstrators away from the consulate as the crowd grew with more pro-Turkish protesters arriving from Germany.
Turkish Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya traveled by road to the Netherlands from neighboring Germany after the Dutch government revoked landing rights for a plane carrying Turkey’s foreign minister earlier on Saturday.
Dutch TV footage showed police stopping the minister’s convoy near the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and preventing her from entering the building.
The Dutch government said it did not want Turkish politicians campaigning among Turkish emigres in the Netherlands, leading President Tayyip Erdogan to brand the fellow NATO member a “Nazi remnant”.
After Dutch authorities declared Turkish Family Minister Kaya persona non grata and a confrontation with Dutch police prevented her from approaching the consulate, with Kaya locking herself in an armored car and police beginning to tow away the car with her in it, she eventually got into another car and was deported to the German border from where she entered the country.
4) As an elected Minister, a Turkish citizen and a woman l will never give up against this unlawful treatment.
— Dr.Betül Sayan Kaya (@drbetulsayan) March 11, 2017
VIDEO: Dutch police order Turkish minister to leave the country, physically block her from nearing the consulate https://t.co/OwPT2ax79P
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 11, 2017
#Rotterdam #Turkey Minister shouting while being transfered to another car to be escorted to #Germany.
pic.twitter.com/JCpBrBDk1t— Aldin 🇧🇦 (@aldin_ww) March 12, 2017
BREAKING #Turkey minister got out of car when her car was being towed & went to other NL car which is heading for German border #rotterdam
— Geor (@geor97) March 12, 2017
Turkish minister denied access to country's consulate in Netherlands escorted to German border – Rotterdam mayor https://t.co/tjIMz9rbEq
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 12, 2017
Then commenced the rioting by Erdogan’s Turkish supporters living in the Netherlands:
The Dutch banned Turkey's minister because she might be a threat to public order. She came anyway and proved it. https://t.co/THj6Vev3kl
— jon gabriel (@exjon) March 12, 2017
Dutch riot police break up pro-Erdogan protest at Turkish consulate in Rotterdam as diplomatic row escalates https://t.co/qbeh0bkxjH
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 12, 2017
#UPDATE Dutch police use water cannon, horses on Turkish rally https://t.co/bMwq4ai7Qs pic.twitter.com/71tnbQhBTp
— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 12, 2017
Dutch riot police break up pro-Erdogan demonstration in Rotterdam https://t.co/Kzj3Kwon5X pic.twitter.com/HNuwscdLMW
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 12, 2017
DEVELOPING: Rioting in #Rotterdam over expulsion of Turkish minister at the Turkish consulate; she was removed as an "undesirable alien" pic.twitter.com/EyY8FjMYh2
— newsbellglobal (@newsbellglobal) March 12, 2017
Once every few minutes the crowd is chanting:"Erdogan, Erdogan, stand straight" or "Allahu Akbar". #rotterdam #consulate #thenetherlands pic.twitter.com/fgkknlU71B
— Brenda Stoter Boscolo (@BrendaStoter) March 11, 2017
#Netherlands #Rotterdam – Note that a number of rioters were making signs of the #GreyWolves and #MuslimBrotherhood tonight. pic.twitter.com/6UbOeKmhIW
— Terror Events (@TerrorEvents) March 12, 2017
#BREAKING: Riot Police needed to pullback after hundreds of #Turks stormed the Police cordon. It Quickly escalated. #Netherlands #Rotterdam
— Unknow404 (@unkn0w404) March 12, 2017
These are some of the rocks that the rioters were throwing at police:
https://twitter.com/NLNieuwsAlert/status/840740112925413376
Here is video of some of the confrontations:
— Roel Schreinemachers (@RoelSchrein) March 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/janpaul_b/status/840723235117371395
ME veegt de boel leeg, met geweld pic.twitter.com/s4gwgh46Op
— Victor Schildkamp (@VSchildkamp) March 12, 2017
Small riot in #Rotterdam now. Madness pic.twitter.com/rQkaQZld6h
— Anno Bunnik (@Eurabist) March 12, 2017
That prompted the mayor of Rotterdam — a Muslim — to declare a state of emergency in the town center. That would later be expanded by the Dutch government regionally.
Dutch media: Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb issued an emergency order for the city center, ordering protesters to leave. #Rotterdam
— Brenda Stoter Boscolo (@BrendaStoter) March 12, 2017
The Mayor of #Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, a Dutch Muslim of #Moroccan descent, handled the situation quite well. Very professional.
— איציק קליין, איחוד אנושי 🇮🇱🤝 (@izikla32) March 12, 2017
This has ignited a serious diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands, with threats being made against Dutch diplomatic officials in Turkey:
#Netherlands #Rotterdam – Turkish consul general lied about minister's plans & used multiple convoys in attempt to throw off police: mayor.
— Terror Events (@TerrorEvents) March 12, 2017
#Netherlands #Rotterdam – Turkish chief of police: police will start to arrest Dutch diplomats in #Ankara, #Turkey. https://t.co/kWqG5ZX2EO
— Terror Events (@TerrorEvents) March 11, 2017
Turkey says Netherlands' decision to prevent foreign minister's political visit will have "serious consequences" for bilateral relations
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 11, 2017
Dutch Embassy in Turkey sealed off while Rotterdam Riot Police officers break up protests outside Turkish Consulate. https://t.co/Klmkrx7VCk
— Guardian™ ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@withego) March 12, 2017
And Erdogan himself has jumped into the fray, describing the Dutch decision to prevent Turkish officials from staging a rally in the Netherlands as an act akin to the Nazis, who occupied Holland during World War II:
Turkish president brands the Dutch "Nazi remnants and fascists" as row over cancelled Rotterdam rally escalates https://t.co/CClOX1wr63
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 11, 2017
Turkey's leader called the Dutch “Nazi remnants” and “fascists” after a minister was barred https://t.co/RowWDOr7X1 pic.twitter.com/y9vOn0wDGG
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/840683513145843712
Which prompted a retort from Rotterdam’s mayor:
NETHERLANDS | Mayor of #Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, responds to #Erdogan by asking, 'Does he know I'm mayor of a city bombed by the #Nazis?' pic.twitter.com/ZVyxXWHAhO
— Vocal Europe (@thevocaleurope) March 12, 2017
Muslim mayor of Rotterdam tells those who don't appreciate the freedoms of the West to "pack your bags and f*** off"https://t.co/kqgOltA3xY
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) March 12, 2017
This is what #Rotterdam (the city whose people #Erdogan describes as nazis and fascists) looked like after the actual nazis paid a visit pic.twitter.com/fjBaEuLwEf
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) March 12, 2017
Turkish media are casting the crisis as the Dutch authorities suppressing democracy — all while Erdogan’s jails are filled with journalists, former government officials, and thousands of Turkish citizens (all victims of his ongoing political purges):
Turks in Rotterdam protest Dutch anti-democratic stancehttps://t.co/npZy210yHr pic.twitter.com/88z4aThg1E
— ANADOLU AGENCY (ENG) (@anadoluagency) March 11, 2017
A woman minister whose gov't jailed almost 50K people including 200 journalists in the last 7 month remembers human rights in #Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/uqqMSZOKKO
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 11, 2017
Pro-govt Turks, journos speak about freedom of expression after Dutch ban, slamming NL while remain silent about jailed journos in #Turkey. https://t.co/JXpfgpdqve
— Ayasun (@abyasun) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov/status/836635661415374848
REWIND JAN 2012==> Obama names Turkey’s Erdoğan among top five international friends http://t.co/vyQxYuf4pQ pic.twitter.com/KdZLAnOip3
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) March 30, 2014
Of course John McCain was just in Turkey a few weeks ago meeting with Erdogan and touting our shared “democratic values”:
Constructive mtg w/ Pres Erdogan 2day- US-Turkey alliance based on democratic values impt to confront global threats https://t.co/BFZCqQmBWg
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 20, 2017
SASC Chairman McCain stressed the importance of working with Turkey to defeat ISIS in his statement after his meeting w/ Turkey's Erdogan: pic.twitter.com/c5PXs6osMH
— Hakan Copur (@hakancopur1) February 21, 2017
@SenJohnMcCain says US must work with #Turkey on #Syria https://t.co/UX2WSGWK9m pic.twitter.com/PzfCVzJWRs
— Turkish Heritage Org (@TurkHeritage) March 8, 2017
There are considerable implications for Holland, the EU, and NATO in this crisis.
First is that Dutch parliamentary elections are scheduled for later this week, with anti-immigration candidate Geert Wilders competing for a lead in the polls. Tonight’s activity, and possibly more protests in coming days, is sure to give Wilders a considerable boost.
Dutch polls campaign hits fever pitch amid row with Turkey https://t.co/vwfiv1KPXu
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) March 12, 2017
#Erdogan's ally nationalist party MHP orders its networks in #Netherlands to stage protests, join in rallies before Turkish consulates.
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 11, 2017
All major Dutch political parties (left to right) support the stance of the Dutch government towards #Turkey https://t.co/qive6SdbtS
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) March 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheeCurrentYear/status/840739513747955713
Live – Al Jazeerapic.twitter.com/IfCH6SkkKp
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) March 11, 2017
Secondly, there are more than a million Turkish citizens living next door in Germany, as well as in neighboring European countries. In fact, Germany backed down from canceling a pro-Erdogan protest in Germany yesterday morning:
Turkish FM claims German gov't stepped back in a row with #Turkey, realized the bad ties with #Turkey will inflict more damage to #Germany.
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 11, 2017
23.58 In #Duesseldorf vor dem Niederländischen Generalkonsulat wird "Nazi Holland" gerufen und der Wolfsgruss gezeigt. pic.twitter.com/XVvYfGNHrO
— infozentrale (@infozentrale) March 11, 2017
#Erdogan’s fifth column in Europe on display in #Rotterdam, confirming how #Turkey's president may stir troubles https://t.co/kDjDNisVVy
— Abdullah Bozkurt (@abdbozkurt) March 12, 2017
Here’s a veiled threat by Erdogan to unleash more refugees on Europe if his demands are not met regarding lifting visa restrictions to allow more Turkish citizens to migrate to the EU:
Turkey says all deals with EU in jeopardy if no visa liberalization https://t.co/UlTpPs2Agl
— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) March 11, 2017
And this diplomatic crisis could provoke a crisis within NATO — pitting NATO allies against each other and putting the U.S. in a precarious position in choosing whose side to take:
#Turkey now threatens to leave #NATO. #Netherlands #Turkish https://t.co/ITpyZ6IQsL
— Unknow404 (@unkn0w404) March 12, 2017
The Dutch gov't might need to invoke NATO's Article 5 for mutual self-defense vs. a fellow NATO member, Erdogan's Turkey. https://t.co/2yM8JBcvA3
— Benjamin Weinthal (@BenWeinthal) March 12, 2017
Many observers in Europe, the U.S., and in the Middle East will continue to watch events unfold this week. The Dutch elections will give an indication of how European citizens are responding to these events and of the prospects of anti-immigration parties throughout Europe.
Stay tuned.
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