Turkey vows tough action after Netherlands bars its ministers

A Dutch riot policeman tries to get his dog to let go of a man after riots broke out during a pro Erdogan demonstration at the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday.

Turkey told the Netherlands on Sunday that it would retaliate in the "harshest ways" after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam, as a row over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish immigrants escalated.
The Dutch government barred Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam on Saturday and later stopped Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate there, before escorting her out of the country to Germany.
Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam.
Some threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.
The Dutch government - set to lose about half its seats in elections this week, according to polls, as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders makes strong gains -  said the ministers' visits were undesirable and it would not cooperate in their campaigning in the Netherlands. "If you can sacrifice Turkish- Dutch relations for an election on Wednesday, you will pay the price," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at an awards ceremony in Istanbul.
Turkish foreign minister's plane prevented from landing
"I thought Nazism was dead, but I was wrong. Nazism is still widespread in the West," he said. "The West has shown its true face."
Speaking to reporters before a public appearance in the northeastern French city of Metz, Cavusoglu said Turkey would continue to act against the Netherlands until it apologises. 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 for years.
But he said the idea of apologising was "bizarre".
"This is a man who yesterday made us out for fascists and a country of Nazis. Im going to de-escalate, but not by offering apologies. Are you nuts?" he told a morning talk show. In a statement issued early on Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would retaliate in the "harshest ways".
The row risked spreading on Sunday as Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen proposed postponing a planned visit by Yildirim this month due to the dispute.
The French foreign ministry urged calm and said there had been no reason to prohibit a meeting in France between Cavusoglu and a local Turkish association. - Reuters
'Netherlands is capital of fascism'
Metz (France) - Turkey's foreign minister said in France on Sunday that the Netherlands is the "capital of fascism", the day after he was barred from speaking in the country to promote a referendum at home.
Some 800 flag-waving Turks gathered in the eastern French city of Metz for the address by Mevlut Cavusoglu, who is campaigning for constitutional changes that would boost the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The "fascism" comment echoed accusations by Erdogan himself, both Saturday and again on Sunday, when he said the Netherlands was behaving like the Nazis in its treatment of Turkish ministers.
The Metz rally was planned weeks ago but took on "another dimension" because of the row between Ankara and The Hague, said Saban Kiper, vice president of a grouping in France of Turkish associations. - AFP