BRUSSELS (BBC) — Turkey is “completely detached from reality” in calling the Dutch fascists, European Council President Donald Tusk has said.

His remarks come amid a row between Turkey and European nations over campaigning for a Turkish referendum.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Dutch government of being “Nazi remnants”.

He was infuriated when a minister was barred from addressing a Rotterdam rally, sparking clashes with police.

Mr Erdogan’s rhetoric intensified when he accused the Dutch of carrying out the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995. The killings of Muslim men and boys were carried out by Bosnian Serb forces and the remarks were condemned by the Dutch prime minister as a “vile falsification”.

Mr Tusk’s remarks to the European Parliament came on the day the Dutch vote in an election in which the party of centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte and that of anti-immigrant Geert Wilders are frontrunners.

The Netherlands is “a place of freedom and democracy. And for sure Rotterdam,” Mr Tusk said.
“The city of Erasmus, brutally destroyed by the Nazis, which today has a mayor born in Morocco,” he added.

“If anyone sees fascism in Rotterdam, they are completely detached from reality.”

Germany and Austria have also acted to stop Turkish rallies. The gatherings are aimed at garnering support for a “yes” vote in a 16 April referendum on giving President Erdogan greater powers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Get notified of the latest updates from MassisPost.

You May Also Like

Yerevan Municipality Refuses to Authorize Opposition Rally

YEREVAN — Authorities in the Armenian capital have not approved at short…

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian Has Cancer Surgery in Glendale

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian has undergone surgery for intestinal…

Panel at Harvard to Look at “Democratization in Armenia and Authoritarianism Worldwide”

BOSTON — A panel discussion entitled “A Trend or an Exception? Democratization…

Israeli Blogger Jailed in Belarus for Criticizing Azerbaijan and Visiting Karabakh

MINSK (Armradio) — An Israeli blogger was arrested in Belarus last Wednesday…