Continuing his reactions to the Netherlands’ expulsion from the country of Turkish Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya on Saturday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sharpened his tone, likening the silent Europeans to dogs, the state-run TRTHaber reported on Sunday.
“There is no voice [reaction] from the Europeans because they do not bite each other,” said Erdoğan referring to the Turkish proverb, “A dog does not bite another dog,” during a speech in Kocaeli.
Reacting to a statement by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that they would normalize relations with Turkey, Erdoğan said: “Wait! You will pay for what you have done first!”
Erdoğan also called on Dutch citizens of Turkish descent to display their reactions in the upcoming elections in the Netherlands: “You know what you will do in the elections, do you not?”
The Turkish president also called on the international community to impose sanctions on The Hague.
Earlier on Sunday Erdoğan said the Netherlands would pay the price, in reference to the prevention of Turkish ministers from delivering campaign speeches in the country and the dispersal of protesters by the Dutch police on Saturday night.
“This cannot be left without a response. Those who treat me, my ministers, my deputies with disrespect will pay the price for their actions. Those who attack my citizens with horses and dogs will pay the price,” Erdoğan vowed in a speech in İstanbul televised live on Sunday.
He argued that the prevention of political rallies by Turkish ministers in Europe to campaign for expanding the powers of the president in Turkey in an April 16 referendum was the result of Islamophobia and the revival of Nazism.
On Saturday night, the Turkish minister of family and social policy was expelled from the Netherlands when she entered the country after The Hague decided to cancel flight clearance for Turkish ministers’ aircraft.