Dutch police CLASH with Turkish protesters after Erdogan calls government ‘Nazi remnants’
DUTCH riot police have clashed with Turkish protesters in violent scenes after a diplomatic incident escalated into all-out chaos.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Dutch politicians are NAZI remnants
The dispute escalated in the evening after Turkey's family minister was prevented by police from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.
Hundreds of protesters responded by gathering outside with Turkish flags, demanding to see the minister.
Dutch police used dogs and water cannons early on Sunday to disperse the crowd, which threw bottles and stones back at the authorities.
A witness claimed several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons.
Erdogan has claimed retaliation will come to the Dutch 'in the harshest ways'
Officers were seen charging towards protestors on horseback, while others advanced on foot with shields and armoured vans.
Less than a day after Dutch authorities prevented Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam, Turkey's family minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, said on Twitter she was being escorted back to Germany.
She said: “The world must take a stance in the name of democracy against this fascist act! This behaviour against a female minister can never be accepted.”
Police used dogs and water cannons on protestors
It comes after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacked the Dutch as being “Nazi remnants and fascists” following the cancellation of a Rotterdam rally.
The Nato member’s comments were triggered by the Dutch government withdrawing permission to allow a plane carrying Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to land in Holland.
Mr Cavusoglu was originally scheduled to speak at a rally in support of a Yes vote in Turkey’s upcoming referendum, which would give Mr Erdogan greatly increased powers.
Turkish protestors took to the streets
It comes after harsh comments from President Erdogan
But the rally was banned for security reasons, according to Rotterdam's mayor.
And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a statement the Turkish threat of sanctions made "the search for a reasonable solution impossible".