Dutch police charge Turkish rally as political row turns to violence

Dutch riot police used horse charges, water cannon and dogs early on Sunday to break up a protest by hundreds of backers of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.

Protesters gathered to show support for the Turkish government after two of its ministers were prevented from campaigning in Holland for a referendum next month to extend Erdogan's presidential powers.

The crowd threw bottles and stones as the police advanced and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said.

The rally had been banned on security grounds by the Dutch government.

We will respond in kind to this unacceptable behaviour

- Binali Yildirim, Turkish foreign minister

The confrontation came as Dutch police escorted the Turkish family affairs minister to the German border after he was prevented from addressing the crowd, the mayor of Rotterdam said early Sunday.

Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya had travelled by road to the Netherlands from Germany after the Dutch government revoked landing rights for a plane carrying Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, earlier on Saturday.

Turkey said it would retaliate in the "harshest ways" to the bans.

"This situation has been protested in the strongest manner by our side, and it has been conveyed to Dutch authorities that there will be retaliation in the harshest ways," said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

"We will respond in kind to this unacceptable behaviour."

Turkey's foreign ministry said it did not want the Dutch ambassador to Ankara to return from leave "for some time". Turkish authorities sealed off the Dutch embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul in apparent retaliation, and hundreds gathered there for protests at the Dutch action.

Cavusoglu was expected to address a public meeting in France on Sunday, a local official said. He was scheduled to speak in Metz, eastern France, at 12pm, an official at the Moselle regional prefecture told Reuters on Saturday, adding that there were currently no plans to prevent the meeting from going ahead.

"Our job is to make sure there's no threat to public order, and there is none," the official said. French police will maintain a protective presence at the event. The visit has been cleared by the French foreign ministry, local official Alain Carton told AFP.

Political faultlines

The Dutch government, which stands to lose heavily to the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders in the Dutch general election on 15 March, said it considered the visits undesirable and "the Netherlands could not cooperate in the public political campaigning of Turkish ministers in the Netherlands".

The government said it saw the potential to import divisions into its own Turkish minority, which has both pro and anti-Erdogan camps. Dutch politicians across the spectrum said they supported the decision by Prime Minister Mark Rutte to ban the visits.

Erdogan is looking to the large number of emigre Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help clinch victory next month in a referendum that would give his presidency sweeping new powers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will do everything possible to prevent Turkish political tensions spilling onto German soil. Four rallies in Austria and one in Switzerland have been cancelled due to the growing dispute.

Erdogan has cited domestic threats from Kurdish and Islamist militants and a July coup bid as cause to vote "yes" to his new powers. But he has also drawn on the emotionally charged row with Europe to portray Turkey as betrayed by allies while facing wars on its southern borders.

The Dutch government had banned Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu from attending a rally on Saturday in Rotterdam but he said he would fly there anyway, saying Europe must be rid of its "boss-like attitude".

Cavusoglu, who was barred from a similar meeting in Hamburg last week but spoke instead from the Turkish consulate, accused the Dutch of treating the many Turkish citizens in the country like hostages, cutting them off from Ankara.

"If my going will increase tensions, let it be ... I am a foreign minister and I can go wherever I want," he added hours before his planned flight to Rotterdam was banned.

Cavusoglu threatened harsh economic and political sanctions if the Dutch refused him entry, and those threats proved decisive for the Netherlands government.

It cited public order and security concerns in withdrawing landing rights for Cavusoglu's flight and said the threat of sanctions made the search for a reasonable solution impossible.

Cavusoglu said in Istanbul on Saturday evening:v"This decision is a scandal and unacceptable in every way. It does not abide by diplomatic practices."

Dutch anti-Muslim politician Wilders, polling second ahead of Wednesday's elections, said in a tweet on Saturday: "To all Turks in the Netherlands who agree with Erdogan: Go to Turkey and NEVER come back!!"

Rutte said: "This morning on TV [the Turkish minister] made clear he was threatening the Netherlands with sanctions, and we can never negotiate with the Turks under such threats. So we decided ... in a conference call it was better for him not to come."

'Nazi remnants'

Addressing a rally of supporters, Erdogan retaliated against the decision to prevent the Turkish foreign minister from visiting Rotterdam.

"Listen Netherlands, you'll jump once, you'll jump twice, but my people will thwart your game," he said. "You can cancel our foreign minister's flight as much as you want, but let's see how your flights will come to Turkey now."

"They don't know diplomacy or politics. They are Nazi remnants. They are fascists," he said.

Rutte called Erdogan's reference to Nazis and Fascists "a crazy remark". He added: "I understand they're angry but this is of course way out of line."

They are Nazi remnants. They are fascists

- Erdogan, on Dutch government

Erdogan chafes at Western criticism of his mass arrests and dismissals of people the Turkish authorities believe were linked to a failed attempt by the military to topple him last July.

He maintains it is clear the West begrudges him new powers and seeks to engineer a "no" vote in the referendum.

Barred from the Netherlands, Cavusoglu arrived in France on Saturday ahead of a planned speech to Turkish emigres in the northeastern city of Metz on Sunday, a Reuters witness said. Earlier, an official at the Moselle regional prefecture told Reuters there were currently no plans to prevent the meeting from going ahead.

A member of the Union of European Turkish Democrats said on Saturday via a Facebook post that the Turkish foreign minister would no longer come to Switzerland for a planned event on Sunday after failing to find a suitable venue.

Zurich's security department, which had unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government in Bern to ban Cavusoglu's appearance, said in a statement on Saturday evening it was relieved the event had been cancelled.