Dutch government opposed to Turkish Foreign Minister’s event in Rotterdam

THE HAGUE

The Dutch government said on March 3 it opposed plans by Turkish authorities to hold a referendum campaign rally in Rotterdam, saying it would inform Ankara of its opposition to the "undesirable" move.

Earlier, the leader of an association of Dutch Turks said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was planning to attend the March 11 rally, hoping to persuade the Netherlands' hundreds of thousands of dual citizens to vote “yes” in the upcoming contitutional referendum that will decide whether the current parliamentary system should be shifted to an executive presidency.

A statement regarding the referendum events in the Netherlands came from the country’s Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The Netherlands is not a place for other countries‘ election rallies, Mark Rutte said on Facebook. 
"We will not cooperate with this. We find this undesirable. We believe that the Dutch public space is not the place for political campaigns in other countries," he added. 

Two German towns this week banned similar planned events with Turkish officials.

On March 2, the municipality of Gaggenau in southwest Germany revoked its permission for Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ's meeting, citing concerns about overcrowding. This prompted Bozdağ to cancel his planned visit to Germany altogether.

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci’s planned address on March 5 to a Turkish community in western city of Cologne was also cancelled by local authorities over security concerns.