The Netherlands Withdraws Ambassador to Turkey
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The Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally withdrawn its Ankara Ambassador Kees Van Rij, who has not been allowed entry into Turkey for 1 year as a result of the tension that began prior to the April 16 referendum.
The tension between the two countries had augmented when on March 12, 2017, Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was refused permission to hold a referendum rally in the consulate building in the Netherlands and subsequently expelled and taken to Germany.
Turkey will also not be able to appoint a new ambassador
The Netherlands’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra announced on his Twitter account that the Netherlands had formally withdrawn its ambassador to Turkey and that Turkey also would not be granted permission to appoint a new ambassador to the Netherlands.
NL & Turkey have tried to reach an agreement on how to normalize bilateral relations. However, talks do not yet offer sufficient perspective on a settlement. Therefore, NL officially withdraws its Ambassador to Turkey. A pause in negotiations is in place. https://t.co/VBVDuOA89r
— Halbe Zijlstra (@HalbeZijlstra) 5 Şubat 2018
Zijlstra justified the decision saying that negotiations to improve relations with Turkey had borne no positive results.
“As long as the Netherlands has no Ambassador to Turkey, the Netherlands will also not issue permission for a new Turkish ambassador to take up duties in the Netherlands,” the statement read, and said that the negotiations to resolve the tension were at a “pause”.
The Netherlands’ Ambassador to Ankara Kees Van Rij had submitted his letter of credence to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2015.
What happened?
Politicians from Turkey were denied visas by the Netherlands last year prior to general elections in the latter and the April 16 referendum in the former.
The Netherlands had not allowed authorities from Turkey to campaign in favor of the constitutional referendum among citizens of Turkey living in the Netherlands.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's visit to the Netherlands was cancelled prior to the referendum, while Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, traveling by land to Rotterdam, was deported. (PT/PU)