"The Netherlands is Europe. And today I want to say that Europe is the Netherlands. [It is] a place of freedom and democracy, and for sure Rotterdam, the city of Erasmus, brutally destroyed by the Nazis, which today has a mayor born in Morocco. If anyone sees fascism in Rotterdam, they are completely detached from reality. We all show solidarity with the Netherlands," Tusk said.
On Saturday, the Dutch authorities refused landing for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was expected to meet with the Turkish expats in the Netherlands in the run up to mid-April's Turkish constitutional referendum on constitutional amendments bolstering the president's powers. On the same day, Turkish Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya decided to travel to the Netherlands, but was denied entry to the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
Ankara reacted furiously, promising reciprocal actions and sanctions against the Netherlands, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan labeled the Dutch authorities' behavior as "Nazism." On Monday, Ankara sent the Netherlands two diplomatic notes, criticizing Cavusoglu's treatment, while the Dutch authorities demanded an apology for comparing the Dutch to Nazis.
