Europe

Turkey slams EU for backing Netherlands in dispute

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses to health sector workers at his palace in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Erdogan has called Germany and the Netherlands "bandit states" that are harming the European Union amid Turkey's growing tensions with the two countries over Turkish ministers' plans to hold campaign meetings there.(Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Service, Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

A poster with a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seen on a building, in central Istanbul's Taksim Square, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday directed fresh verbal attacks at the Netherlands amid their growing diplomatic spat, holding the country responsible for Europe's worst mass killing since World War II. In a televised speech, Erdogan referred to the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, in 1995. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (The Associated Press)

People walk in central Istanbul's Taksim Square, backdropped by a poster of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday directed fresh verbal attacks at the Netherlands amid their growing diplomatic spat, holding the country responsible for Europe's worst mass killing since World War II. In a televised speech, Erdogan referred to the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, in 1995. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (The Associated Press)

Turkey has criticized the European Union for siding with the Netherlands in a diplomatic dispute over Turkish ministers' plans to hold campaigns there, saying the EU's position "lends credence" to extremists.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement Tuesday said the EU's stance on Turkey was "short-sighted" and "carried no value" for Turkey. It said the European bloc, which called on Turkey to cease excessive statements, "ignored the (Netherlands') violation of diplomatic conventions and the law."

The spat is over the Netherlands' refusal to allow two Turkish ministers to campaign and court the votes of Turks eligible to vote in an April 16 referendum on expanding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers.

Turkey on Monday slapped a series of political sanctions against the Netherlands, including halting political discussions between the two countries.