Turkish FM criticizes Netherlands over rally ban

By Ayse Yildiz

ANTALYA, Turkey (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu slammed the Dutch authorities on Saturday for banning his Rotterdam rally scheduled for next week.

The rally for Turkey's April 16 referendum on constitutional changes was banned Friday.

"They say 'You cannot hold a rally in a public space.' What do you mean we cannot? Where is the democracy or the freedom of speech you claim to have been giving us a lesson on? What about the freedom of assembly?" said Cavusoglu during a meeting in the southern province of Antalya.

"The Netherlands is not a place for other countries' election rallies," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Facebook on Friday. "We will not cooperate with this. We find this undesirable."

"We believe that the Dutch public space is not the place for political campaigns of other countries," he added.

Cavusoglu said the Netherlands could not hold back Turkish officials. "We go wherever we want, and meet with our citizens," he added.

Earlier this week, Germany also banned similar planned rallies of Turkish officials.

On Thursday, the municipality of Gaggenau in southwest Germany revoked its permission for Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag's meeting, citing concerns about overcrowding.

This prompted Bozdag to cancel his planned visit to Germany altogether.