Turkey slams EU for backing Netherlands as tensions escalate

ANKARA - 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 on Tuesday said the EU's stance on Turkey was "shortsighted" 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, deepening the row between the two NATO allies.

The row is likely to further dim Ankara's prospects of EU membership.

"We are doing exactly what they did to us. We are not allowing planes carrying Dutch diplomats or envoys from landing in Turkey or using our airspace," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. "Those creating this crisis are responsible for fixing it."

Earlier Erdogan threatened to take the Dutch to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Netherlands' Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday said the Turkish sanctions against the Dutch government were "not too bad" but were inappropriate as the Dutch have more to be angry about.

Rutte's government was angered by Erdogan referring to the Dutch as "Nazis" and for his determination to hold a campaign rally for the April referendum on Saturday among Dutch Turks on Dutch soil without a permit.