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“Turkey in a war of words with the Netherlands” might not have been your guess for one of the big international incidents of 2017, but here we are.
How mad is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Dutch and German governments? Enough so that in the last week he’s brought up the Nazis to refer to them.
Oh, and there's protests in the Netherlands and there's talk of Turkey wanting sanctions against the Dutch.
Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty Images
So let’s back up. Erdogan and his ruling AKP party in Turkey are backing a referendum that’s going to be held in April for a new constitution.
The Turkish parliament approved the new constitution, which its critics say would cede even more powers in the hands of the presidency, in January after a contentious debate. Since then, the race has been on to rally as many votes as possible for the new constitution, including among Turks living overseas.
Chris Mcgrath / Getty Images
It was for that purpose that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu intended to fly to the Netherlands on Saturday to speak at a rally of Turkish expatriates in Rotterdam.
However, on Friday, Rotterdam authorities revoked his permit to address the rally, a move that led Cavusoglu to threaten sanctions against the Netherlands.
“If the Netherlands cancels my flight, we will impose severe sanctions on them that will affect it economically and politically,” he told CNN Turk.
Adem Altan / AFP / Getty Images
He decided to go ahead with his plans on Saturday and took off for the Netherlands.
But before he could land, the Dutch government announced that it had revoked his plane's flight permit, citing safety concerns over the crowds that were gathering.
Steffi Loos / AFP / Getty Images
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