Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday drove his dispute with European nations to the hilt, claiming that “Nazism is alive in the West” after two of his ministers were prevented from campaigning in the Netherlands over the weekend.
While Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte worked to contain the diplomatic damage from his unusual actions, Mr Erdogan made it clear during an address broadcast live that Turkey wouldn’t be easily appeased.
He said Ankara would retaliate for the ousting of the Turkish family affairs minister from the Netherlands in an unprecedented midnight standoff outside the country’s Rotterdam consulate between a high-level government official and police in full gear.
Earlier in the day, the Netherlands had already denied Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu landing rights to address crowds at a Rotterdam rally.
