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REUTERS
ANKARA/ROTTERDAM
Turkey told the Netherlands on Sunday that it would retaliate in the"harshest ways" after Turkish ministers were barred from speaking in Rotterdam, as a row over Ankara's political campaigning among Turkish immigrants escalated.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Netherlands was the"capital of fascism" as it joined other European countries in stopping Turkish politicians holding rallies due to fears that tensions in Turkey might spill over into their communities.
The Dutch government barred Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam on Saturday and later stopped Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate there, before escorting her out of the country to Germany.
Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.
The Dutch government - set to lose about half its seats in elections this week, according to polls, as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders makes strong gains - said the ministers' visits were undesirable and it would not cooperate in their campaigning in the Netherlands.
"If you can sacrifice Turkish-Dutch relations for an election on Wednesday, you will pay the price," Erdogan said in a speech at an awards ceremony in Istanbul.
"I thought Nazism was dead, but I was wrong. Nazism is still widespread in the West," he said."The West has shown its true face."
