Dutch PM Rutte comments on crisis with Turkey: ‘We will never negotiate under threats’
Following the escalated diplomatic row between Dutch and Turkish officials, top officials from both countries gave statements this morning (March 13) about the crisis that emerged with Turkey’s insistence to have its foreign affairs minister to hold a public meeting in Rotterdam to campaign for the upcoming referendum in Turkey.
While government officials of Turkey continued giving remarks ‘signaling sanctions against Holland’, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said ‘Holland will not negotiate under threats.’
During a press conference earlier today, Rutte referred to earlier remarks of Turkey’s foreign minister Çavuşoğlu given on CNN Türk and said: “We tried to de-escalate the situation (with Turkey) from Friday the week before . . . on Monday (last week), Turkey said it was all due to the Dutch elections; we said it was not true… As I told the PM of Turkey later that night, Turkey is a proud country but also the Netherlands is a proud country. We will never negotiate under threats . . . so that is why we stopped discussions and told him he was no longer welcome last Saturday.”