The EU warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to avoid inflammatory rhetoric as a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the Netherlands deepened, with the Dutch envoy to Ankara summoned for the third day in a row.
The Netherlands blocked Turkish ministers from holding rallies over the weekend to boost support for an upcoming referendum on expanding Erdogan’s powers.
In response, Erdogan twice accused fellow NATO member the Netherlands of acting like the Nazis, comments that sparked outrage in a country bombed and occupied by German forces in World War II.
In an escalating standoff that risks damaging Turkey’s already deteriorating relations with the European Union ahead of the April 16 referendum on constitutional change, Brussels sternly warned Ankara to avoid making the situation worse.