Council of Europe: We Cannot Allow the Tension to Escalate Any Further

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Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland made a written statement yesterday (March 12) as to the escalating tension between Turkey and the Netherlands.

Jagland in his statement said:

"The situation is now damaging to diplomacy and democracy. We cannot allow it to escalate any further.

"All Turkish citizens, inside and outside of the country, should have ample opportunity to be informed about the pros and cons of proposed constitutional amendments and to engage in an open, fair and inclusive discussion in the referendum campaign.

"Campaign events abroad require close cooperation between the Turkish authorities and their foreign counterparts. All sides involved should agree on the modalities of such events through constructive dialogue and with sufficient time to allow for necessary administrative preparations.

"All public meetings and political campaigns held in Council of Europe member states should be conducted in accordance with national legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights".

What happened?

The campaign meeting of Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on March 11 in Rotterdam for the referendum on the Constitutional Amendment Draft on April 16 was cancelled.

Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Abutalip had announced that the decision to cancel the meeting was taken by the owner of the hall Park de Heerlijkheid where the meeting was to take place due to lack of fire security measures. Mayor Abutalip noted however "If the owner of the hall had not, I would have cancelled the meeting myself for public order and security reasons".

Çavuşoğlu in a TV program in CNN Türk called the Dutch "Nazis" following the remarks about Germany and if the Netherlands would revoke his landing rights, this would cause sanctions.

On March 11, the Netherlands revoked Minister Çavuşoğlu's landing rights.

Netherland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders said that Çavuşoğlu's call to the people from Turkey in the Netherlands for an assembly threatened "the public order and security".

While the revocation of Çavuşoğlu's landing rights sparked protests in Turkey and the Netherlands, Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan-Kaya who wanted to enter the Consulate of Turkey in Rotterdam where the protests were being staged was blocked and deported to Germany with police escort.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said that he wished the tension to de-escelate but they would not apologize.

On March 15, General Elections will be held in the Netherlands. (NV/DG)