Netherlands bars Turkish minister's plane from landing, Turkey vows to retaliate

The Netherlands on Saturday barred the plane carrying Turkey's foreign minister from landing in Rotterdam saying his visit would be a threat to public order, escalating a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. 


The withdrawal of landing permission by the Dutch government drew the ire of Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan who branded the country as Nazi remnants.


The move comes after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he would travel to Rotterdam, despite a ban on him addressing a rally there report Reuters.

The Dutch government said in a statement on Saturday that it had withdrawn the permission because of "risks to public order and security" caused by the proposed visit of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Rotterdam.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to retaliate against Dutch diplomatic flights.

"You can stop our foreign minister's plane all you want, let's see how your planes will come to Turkey from now on," Erdogan said at a rally in Istanbul.

"They do not know politics or international diplomacy," said Erdogan

"These Nazi remnants, they are fascists" he added.

Turkey will hold a referendum on constitutional changes April 16, a move that would give the president more powers if it scaled through.

Cavusoglu was also last week barred from a similar meeting in Hamburg.