TURKEY-NETHERLANDS DIPLOMATIC ROW ESCALATES TO STREETS|荷禁土外長入境出席造勢大會 爆發外交大戰

Turkey will hold a referendum on constitutional amendments greatly increasing the president's power on April 16th. Turkish officials are making frequent visits to Europe to rally support among Turks living abroad. However, some EU countries have criticized this referendum as a blow to democracy, and the Netherlands barred Turkish officials from entering the country for security reasons, which triggered a diplomatic row between the two countries. Hundreds of unhappy Turkish gathered in front of the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam to protest against the Dutch government's refusal to allow entry of a Turkish official. Demonstrators threw stones and bottles at Dutch police, triggering a conflict where the police used high-pressure water jets to disperse the crowd. The Netherlands barred Turkey's foreign minister from landing on the 11th, and Turkish Family Affairs minister was also prevented from entering her country's mission in Rotterdam. making it impossible for them to attend a rally for Turkey's constitutional referendum there. Turkey retaliated by closing off its Dutch embassy. The row has escalated as neither of the two countries' leaders have backed off. ==RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN Turkish President== They do not know policy or international diplomacy. They are nervous and cowardly, these Nazi remnants, they are fascists. ==MARK RUTTE Netherlands Prime Minister== These remarks are crazy. I understand they're angry, but this of course was way out of line. Turkish President Erdogan had angered German chancellor Angela Merkel last week when he slammed Germany for banning rallies for the Turkish constitutional referendum, saying the ban was Nazi behavior. Austria and Switzerland had also banned Turkish officials to attend the rallies in their borders, citing security concerns. Erdogan had previously used an aborted coup as an impetus for cracking down on dissent and supressing freedom of speech, making its strained relations with the EU even worse. Now it has further elevated tensions with Germany and the Netherlands. Some political analysts say that Erdogan is casting himself as a hero against European oppressors ahead of the referendum. TRANSLATED BY：JOHN CHEN 土耳其即將在4月16號舉行修憲公投擴大總統職權，政府官員積極前往歐洲向僑民拉票。不過歐盟國家認為這項公投是開民主倒車，因此以安全理由，相繼禁止相關集會。11號荷蘭政府禁止土耳其外長入境出席造勢大會，引爆兩國外交大戰。 不滿荷蘭政府趕走部長，好幾百名土耳其僑民，聚集在鹿特丹的土耳其領事館前示威，有示威民眾向荷蘭鎮暴警察丟擲石塊跟瓶子，引爆衝突，遭到警方動用強力水柱驅離。 荷蘭11號拒絕土耳其外長卡夫索格魯的班機降落，卡夫索格魯因此無法參加在鹿特丹的修憲公投造勢大會。荷蘭還禁止土耳其社會家庭政策部長進入鹿特丹領事館，並宣布土耳其大使是不受歡迎人物。土耳其也還以顏色，封鎖荷蘭使館。兩國緊張關係升溫，元首針鋒相對。 =土耳其總統 艾爾多安== 他們不懂政治或國際外交 他們緊張兮兮又膽小 他們是納粹餘孽 法西斯份子 ==荷蘭總理 呂特== 這是最瘋狂的言論 我了解他們的憤怒 但這樣的言論已經越線 上星期艾爾多安就因為不滿德國阻止公投集會，痛批是納粹行徑，極度挑釁的言詞，惹惱德國總理梅克爾。另外奧地利跟瑞士也都以安全理由，禁止土國官員在境內的相關活動。艾爾多安先前就因為利用流產政變，大舉整肅異己打壓言論自由，跟原本關係就不和諧的歐盟之間，裂痕擴大。現在又升高跟德國荷蘭的對立，有政治分析家認為，艾爾多安可能是藉機在修憲公投前，把自己塑造成對抗歐洲壓迫者的英雄。 記者 陳秋玫 報導