Turkish FM: I will hold a rally in the Netherlands

By Erkan Avci

ANKARA (AA) - Defying possible bans, Turkey’s foreign minister has said that he will go to the Netherlands this Saturday to hold a rally on the upcoming constitutional referendum.

"I will go there Saturday and hold my rally. You can close the halls, whatever you do, we can find somewhere [to hold it]," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters Thursday.

Cavusoglu added that he could also visit the Netherlands following Turkey’s April 16 constitutional referendum if invited by his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders "if he asks properly,” adding, “We will never give into pressure” to cancel the rally.

He added: "If he said, 'This [rally] is impossible no matter what,' I will [still] go there this Saturday."

Cavusoglu's remarks came amid Ankara’s heightened tensions with the Netherlands and Germany after officials in both countries tried to block rallies ahead of the referendum, which would shift Turkey to a presidential system.

Barring Turkish ministers from holding rallies in Germany is "systematic" and "totally unacceptable," Turkey's EU Minister Omer Celik said Tuesday.

Last Friday a planned rally in the Netherlands was barred by Dutch officials, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte saying, "The Netherlands is not a place for other countries' election rallies."

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

- Constitutional changes

Constitutional reform and the change to a presidential system have been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former prime minister and Justice and Development (AK) Party leader, was elected president in August 2014.

This marked the first time a Turkish president was directly chosen by popular vote.

On Jan. 20, Turkish lawmakers from the ruling AK Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voted in favor of the constitutional reform package.

Aside from the change to a presidential system, other reforms include allowing the president to maintain party political affiliation.

There would also be changes to Turkey’s highest judicial body, which would be renamed while retaining its independence and own budget.

The referendum is scheduled to be held on April 16.