The Netherlands joins Germany in row over Turkish meetings

With Turkey embroiled in a row with Germany over the latter's decision to ban Turkish ministers from holding events in two German cities, the Netherlands has irked Turkish officials by taking a similar stance.

The Dutch government said on March 3 it opposed plans by Turkish authorities to hold a referendum campaign rally in Rotterdam, saying it would inform Ankara of its opposition to the "undesirable" move.

Earlier, the leader of an association of Dutch Turks said Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was planning to attend the March 11 rally, hoping to persuade the Netherlands' hundreds of thousands of dual citizens to vote "yes" in the April 16 constitutional referendum on whether to shift Turkey's current parliamentary system to an executive presidency.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued a statement via Facebook, saying the Netherlands is not a place for other countries' election rallies.

"We will not cooperate with this. We find this undesirable. We believe that the Dutch public space is not the place for political campaigns in other countries," Rutte said. 

Two German towns this week banned similar planned events with Turkish officials.

On March 2, the municipality of Gaggenau in southwest Germany revoked its permission for Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ's meeting, citing concerns about overcrowding. This prompted Bozdağ to cancel his planned visit to Germany altogether.

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi's planned address on March 5 to the Turkish community in the western city of Cologne was also cancelled by the local authorities over security concerns.

Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı criticized the stance of Germany and the Netherlands as "very dangerous." 

"These are...