Turkish ministers face next ban from campaigning in Western Europe
By Kamila Aliyeva
The tension escalates around Turkey's attempts to send ministers to Western Europe to speak at campaign rallies aimed at boosting support from Turkish expats at the referendum on April 16 that would expand the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Antwerp Governor Bart De Weyver banned a meeting of Turks scheduled for Friday in Burke, a suburb of this second largest city in Belgium, RIA Novosti reported citing the Meuse newspaper.
"This poses a threat to public order," the head of the city administration said.
The authorities of Antwerp are afraid of clashes between the participants of the Turkish rally and the members of the extreme right Flemish party "Flemish interest", which planned to organize a protest against the meeting of representatives of the Turkish diaspora the same day. This action was also banned by the Governor of Antwerp.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belgium, Jan Yambon, earlier called on local authorities to take appropriate measures to ensure security and order in case of holding mass rallies involving the Turkish population of the kingdom. Activities were planned mainly in Antwerp and Brussels.
Austria's chancellor also said on Monday he would attempt to ban Turkish ministers from campaigning in Austria for a referendum in Turkey to expand Turkish President Erdogan's powers after the Netherlands hindered the Turkish minister from speaking there.
When asked what the Austrian government would do if the Turkish minister tries to enlist the support of the Austrian Turks on April 16, Christian Kern told broadcaster ORF that "we would try to prohibit this due to reasons of public security."
Previously in March, Kern had called for a "collective EU response" to prevent Turkish ministers from holding campaign events in EU countries.
Last week, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was denied permission to land to address the same rally in Rotterdam and tell the Turkish citizens living there about the constitutional amendments.
The Turkish Minister for Family Affairs Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya also tried to get there by land transport in order to speak at the rally, but the Dutch Interior Ministry officers blocked the road to the minister's car, and then the authorities declared her "an undesirable alien" and escorted out of the country.
As a result, Turkey has announced a number of political sanctions against the Netherlands, including halting high-level political discussions between the two countries and closing Turkish air space to Dutch diplomats.
Turkey is pushing for an apology, calling the Dutch actions a violation of diplomatic conventions. The country has sent two political protest notes expressing their demands.
Earlier, the dissatisfaction of Turkey was caused by the decision of Germany to cancel two events with the participation of Ministers from Ankara. Observers say that Berlin does not want to provide a platform for propaganda to government officials whose policies the federal republic does not agree with.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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