UK calls for ‘fast end’ to Turkey-Netherlands stand-off

LONDON – Anadolu Agency

AFP photo

The stand-off between Turkey and the Netherlands is “very regrettable” and should be sorted out “as fast as possible,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on March 12.

“I think this is very regrettable,” Johnson said on Peston, a weekend political program on ITV channel.

“They are two NATO countries and both great friends of ours,” he added.

On March 11, the Dutch government first canceled the Turkish foreign minister’s flight permit to the Netherlands and then blocked a convoy carrying Turkey’s family minister from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.

The ministers were due to meet Turkish residents ahead of the April 16 referendum on constitutional reforms in Turkey.

“Actually, my Turkish friend and counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has rung me just now, I made it perfectly clear that [if] he wanted to come and have lunch with me, there was nothing to stop him,” Johnson said.

“But, obviously, this is something we hope that could be sorted out between these countries as fast as possible,” he added.