Turkish Government on Sunday demanded an apology and threatened to retaliate against the Dutch government after its expulsion of Family Minister Fatma Sayan-Kaya prompted a violent protest and several arrests in Rotterdam.

Speaking at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport upon her return, Sayan-Kaya described her expulsion across the border to Germany as “anti-democratic”.

She accused the Dutch authorities of suspending “freedom of movement, freedom of speech, every kind of freedom.”

Sayan-Kaya crossed the border into the Netherlands from Germany to hold a campaign rally in support of constitutional reform in her country that would further expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip-Erdogan.

She intended to hold the campaign speech at the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam in the place of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Cavusoglu was unable to enter the country on Saturday after Dutch Authorities revoked his plane’s landing rights.

The family minister was escorted back over the German border by Dutch police, prompting a violent protest in Rotterdam overnight to Sunday.

Dutch Authorities used water cannon and batons to subdue the subsequent protest, while demonstrators threw rocks and plant pots at officers, Dutch news agency ANP reported, adding that several people had been arrested.

The diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands escalated on Saturday when officials in Ankara threatened to impose sanctions on the country should they be denied the right to shore up support for their reform effort.

At an event in Istanbul on Sunday, Erdogan said that the Netherlands would “pay a price” for its behaviour.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, said that Turkey’s response to the expulsion would be “most severe.”

“Shame on the Dutch government,” Kalin tweeted, adding that the weekend’s events marked “a black day for democracy in Europe”.

Turkish Finance Minister Naci Agbal told state-run news outlet Anadolu that the Netherlands’ “anti-democratic” and “fascistic” behaviour showed that Europe was in the process of reestablishing National Socialism.

Speaking in France on Sunday ahead of a planned rally, Cavusoglu threatened to take “wide-ranging steps” against the Netherlands unless the country apologised for its behaviour, Anadolu reported.

His French counterpart, Jean Ayrault, called for a “cooling down” in the row between Turkey and European countries, adding that Turkish Authorities should “avoid excesses and provocations”.

Denmark also entered the fray on Sunday, with Prime Minister Lars Lokke saying that after “Turkey’s latest attack against Holland” he had asked Yildirim to postpone a meeting scheduled for next week.

Also on Sunday, a protester entered the Dutch consulate premises in Istanbul and replaced the country’s flag with the Turkish flag, the DHA news agency reported.

The agency showed a video of the man shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) before he left the scene. The Dutch flag has since been returned to its original place, the report said.

(Source: NAN)