The Dutch government on Saturday refused permission for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's plane to travel to the Netherlands ahead of a planned rally in the city of Rotterdam to drum up support for a referendum.
"The Turkish authorities have publicly threatened sanctions. That makes it impossible to reach a reasonable solution," the Dutch government said in a statement. "For that reason the Netherlands has let it be known it will withdraw permission to land" the minister's plane, it added.
According to the Turkish foreign ministry, Çavuşoğlu was still in İstanbul when the Dutch authorities announced they would refuse his plane permission to land.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan branded the Netherlands "Nazi remnants, fascists" on Saturday. Erdoğan said in a rally in İstanbul: "You can stop our foreign minister's plane all you want, let's see how your (diplomatic) planes will come to Turkey from now on."
FM Çavuşoglu said that the Dutch decision to deny his plane landing permission for him to enter the Netherlands "is a scandal in every way and cannot be accepted." "We will give them the response they deserve," Çavuşoğlu said.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu the leader of Turkey's main opposition party criticized the Dutch decision. "Those who defend democracy would not do such things. You'll call yourself a democrat and then not permit the flight of a minister of the Turkish Republic?" said Kılıçdaroğlu.
Turkey's family minister decided to travel to the Dutch city of Rotterdam by land on Saturday, after the Dutch government barred the Turkish foreign minister from landing his plane there. Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya has been blocked by Dutch police from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
In the evening the Dutch Embassy in Ankara and its consulate in İstanbul were closed off because of security reasons.
Around 100 people have marched in İstanbul to protest Netherlands' decision to bar Turkey's foreign minister from campaigning. The demonstrators have laid a black wreath in front of the Dutch Consulate amid a heavy police presence. The group chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) and other slogans before dispersing.
About 100 pro-AKP demonstrators have gathered outside the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam at dusk with flags in a peaceful protest following the acrimonious words between both governments. The crowd is standing near the consulate's entrance, with Rotterdam police putting up railings to keep anyone from getting too close.
The Turkish foreign ministry said that it doesn't want to see the Dutch ambassador, who is out of the country, to return to his post because of the increasingly divisive dispute with the Netherlands.
Several other European cities have banned such meetings to be attended by Turkish officials.
