Turkey Ever Attack Dutch with Srebrenica Jibe
Turkey Ever Attack Dutch with Srebrenica Jibe
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ANKARA - Turkey's war of words with Netherlands has worsened after the Turkish president accused the Dutch of carrying out a massacre of muslim men at Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995.
Bosnian Serb forces were in fact behind the massacre but Dutch UN peacekeepers failed to protect the victims. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the failure, still a raw nerve in the Netherlands, revealed Dutch 'morality' was 'broken'.
The Dutch prime minister called the remarks a "vile falsification". Mark Rutte told Erdogan was becoming "increasingly more hysterical hour by hour and I want him to calm down".
Turkey is furious at a decision by the Netherlands on Saturday to bar two Turkish ministers from addressing expatriates in the country ahead of a referendum in Turkey.
In retaliation, Turkey accused the Dutch of "Nazi" tactics, barred the Dutch ambassador from returning to Ankara, and suspended high-level relations with the Hague in a raft of diplomatic sanctions.
On Tuesday, Turkey's deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said the country may levy economic sanctions against the Netherlands as well.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini had called on Turkey to "refrain from excessive statements and actions that risk further exacerbating the situation", but her message appears to have had little effect.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told that economic sanctions could be in the works.
"Pressure will continue against the Netherlands until they make up for what they did. We've started with the political, diplomatic sanctions, and economic sanctions may follow," he said.
Erdogan has threatened to take the Netherlands to the European Court of Human Rights over the ban on his ministers, which both the Dutch and Germans have imposed citing fears of unrest.
Bosnian Serb forces were in fact behind the massacre but Dutch UN peacekeepers failed to protect the victims. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the failure, still a raw nerve in the Netherlands, revealed Dutch 'morality' was 'broken'.
The Dutch prime minister called the remarks a "vile falsification". Mark Rutte told Erdogan was becoming "increasingly more hysterical hour by hour and I want him to calm down".
Turkey is furious at a decision by the Netherlands on Saturday to bar two Turkish ministers from addressing expatriates in the country ahead of a referendum in Turkey.
In retaliation, Turkey accused the Dutch of "Nazi" tactics, barred the Dutch ambassador from returning to Ankara, and suspended high-level relations with the Hague in a raft of diplomatic sanctions.
On Tuesday, Turkey's deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said the country may levy economic sanctions against the Netherlands as well.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini had called on Turkey to "refrain from excessive statements and actions that risk further exacerbating the situation", but her message appears to have had little effect.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told that economic sanctions could be in the works.
"Pressure will continue against the Netherlands until they make up for what they did. We've started with the political, diplomatic sanctions, and economic sanctions may follow," he said.
Erdogan has threatened to take the Netherlands to the European Court of Human Rights over the ban on his ministers, which both the Dutch and Germans have imposed citing fears of unrest.
(rnz)
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