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Erdogan: Istanbul, Rotterdam can no longer be sister cities

Türkiye Materials 15 March 2017 20:28 (UTC +04:00)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey’s Istanbul and the Netherlands’ Rotterdam can no longer be sister cities following last week's Dutch blockade of Turkish ministers
Erdogan: Istanbul, Rotterdam can no longer be sister cities

Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 15

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey’s Istanbul and the Netherlands’ Rotterdam can no longer be sister cities following last week's Dutch blockade of Turkish ministers.

Addressing a public rally in the central Anatolian province of Afyonkarahisar, Erdogan asked Istanbul’s mayor to end its pact with the Dutch city unilaterally, Anadolu Agency reported.

"We cannot have sister cities with such people," Erdogan said.

According to Istanbul municipality’s website, the pact with the Dutch city was signed in 2005.

The diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands broke out as the Dutch authorities’ decided to, for security reasons, prohibit Turkish politicians from delivering speeches in the Netherlands in support of constitutional reform in Turkey.

On March 11, the Dutch government first canceled the Turkish foreign minister's flight permit to the Netherlands and then blocked a convoy carrying Turkey’s family minister from entering the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam.

Protests erupted outside consulate in Rotterdam, where Dutch police used guard dogs and baton to disperse peaceful crowd gathering in support of Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya.

In response, Turkey sent two notes to the Netherlands to protest blocking of Turkish ministers’ visits to the country and ill-treatment of Turkish citizens by the Dutch police.

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