Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has continued to criticize Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, saying he was not honest and not a real man, the t24 news website reported on Wednesday.
“Dutch Prime Minister [Mark Rutte] lies. He is not an honest man. I thought he was a real man. We sat with him and negotiated the refugee agreement. I thought he was a real man, but he is not. He is not honest,” said Çavuşoğlu on 24 TV while evaluating the crisis between Ankara and The Hague.
Tensions remain high between the two countries since two Turkish ministers were prevented from holding political rallies in the Netherlands over the weekend and Dutch police used force to disperse Turks protesting the incidents in Rotterdam.
Two Turkish diplomats were reportedly detained after a Turkish minister, Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, was expelled from the country when she insisted on entering the Turkish Consulate General in Rotterdam. Kaya had crossed the border into the Netherlands by car after The Hague revoked clearance for the aircraft of Turkish politicians to land on Dutch soil.
“If we preferred lawlessness or reciprocity, we would take the [Dutch] chargé d’affaires by the ear and put him a cell,” said Çavuşoğlu in reaction to the detention of the Turkish diplomats.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım in a live TV interview on Tuesday night said Dutch Prime Minister Rutte had apologized for the detention of the Turkish consul general in Rotterdam and the chargé d’affaires from the embassy in The Hague.
The Netherlands canceled the flight clearance for Çavuşoğlu’s aircraft on Saturday shortly after Çavuşoğlu warned that Turkey would impose “harsh sanctions” on Holland if it were to take such a step.