Turkish President Erdoğan’s name written on ballot paper in Dutch elections

ISTANBUL

Images showing the name of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan written on ballots in the March 15 general elections in the Netherlands have gone viral on social media.

The trend has previously circulated among European countries in various elections.

The diplomatic row between the two countries was stoked on March 11 when the Netherlands canceled the flight permit for Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for a meeting in the country.

Later in the day, Family Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was prevented by Dutch police from reaching Turkey’s consulate in Rotterdam after being told not to enter the Netherlands to conduct political campaigning for the April 16 charter referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system. 

Kaya was subsequently deported to Germany, escorted by the Dutch police, early on March 12.