Turkey and the Netherlands to 'normalise' relations

In a joint statement, the two countries said their foreign ministers met on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit in Brussels and "agreed to normalise the diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey
Friday, 20 July 2018 16:39

Turkey and the Netherlands say their relations are on the mend after a diplomatic row in 2017 ahead of a critical Turkish referendum.

The decision was reached in a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok.

In a joint statement Friday, the two countries stated their "readiness for normalisation" of diplomatic relations, following a meeting at the NATO summit last week. The foreign ministers agreed to reinstate ambassadors to Ankara and The Hague soon. 

The two governments fell out over the Netherlands' decision to bar Turkish officials from campaigning among the Turkish diaspora before Turkey's April 2017 constitutional referendum, when the Netherlands was holding its own elections.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry on Feb. 5 said it had formally withdrawn its ambassador to Turkey, who has been physically barred from the country for almost a year, over a dispute that began during March 2017.