Danish Primer Lars Locke Rasmussen on Sunday said he had proposed to his counterpart, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, that he delay a planned visit to Denmark amid rising tensions with Germany and the Netherlands due to the cancellation of Turkish ministers’ campaign rallies in those countries.
In a press release on Sunday, Rasmussen said the decision was made in light of the escalating tensions between Turkey on the one hand and Germany and the Netherlands on the other.
Underlining that he had a “frank and constructive dialogue” with his counterpart during his visit to Ankara on Dec. 10, 2016, Rasmussen said “Under normal circumstances, it would be a pleasure to welcome Turkish Prime Minister Yıldırım.”
“However, with the current Turkish attack on Holland, the meeting cannot be seen as separated from that. I have therefore suggested to my Turkish colleague that our meeting be postponed,” he added.
The Turkish minister of family and social policy was expelled from the Netherlands on Saturday night when she entered the country after the Dutch government decided to cancel the flight clearance for the Turkish foreign minister’s aircraft earlier in the day.
Before the Netherlands’ decision, last week, local German authorities also canceled meetings by several Turkish ministers in order to seek the support of Turkish expatriates for a referendum on April 16 that will expand the power of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and switch Turkey to an executive presidency.