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Turkey’s war of words with the Netherlands has worsened after the Turkish president accused the Dutch of contributing to a massacre of Muslim men at Srebrenica, Bosnia, in 1995.
Dutch UN peacekeepers failed to protect the men from Bosnian Serb forces, who were prosecuted over the massacre.
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 the BBC Mr Erdogan was becoming “increasingly more hysterical hour by hour and I want him to… calm down”.
Turkey is furious that the Netherlands barred Turkish ministers from campaigning among expatriates for its referendum.
It has 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.
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EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called on Turkey to “refrain from excessive statements and actions that risk further exacerbating the situation”, but her message appears to have little affect.
Turkey called the appeal “worthless”.
Why did the Dutch ban the Turkish rallies?
The spat began when two Turkish ministers were barred from entering the country to attend rallies that were to be attended by ethnic Turks in the Netherlands.
The rallies were called to encourage Turkey’s large expatriate communities in the EU to vote Yes in a referendum on 16 April on expanding the Turkish president’s powers.
The Dutch government decided to block the rallies, citing “risks to public order and security”. Some 5.5 million Turks live outside the country, including an estimated 400,000 in the Netherlands.
While the Dutch position was that the rallies posed a threat to public order, the EU has made very clear its unease over the Turkish referendum itself.
In their statement on Monday, Ms Mogherini and Mr Hahn voiced concern that it could lead to an “excessive concentration of powers in one office”. BBC
