Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey's Foreign Minister, has warned Europe is headed for wars of religion. He stated that Dutch politicians are taking the continent to a cliff. The statement came amid a dispute between Turkey and Netherlands. Cavusoglu was speaking at a rally in Antalya, he gave his assessment of the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands.
The elections were a failure for the politician Geert Wilders, after a campaign for the banning of the Koran and closure of mosques. Russia Today reports that instead of rejoicing that Wilders had been defeated by Mark Rutte, Cavusoglu said there is no difference between the mindsets of Wilders and social democrats. Cavusoglu added: They all have the same mindset... that mindset is taking Europe to the cliff. Soon wars of religion may and will start in Europe.
The comments come amid a fight between the Netherlands and Turkey. Ankara suspended high-level relations with the Netherlands, after it banned ministers from addressing Turks at a rally in Rotterdam. This problem between both countries has been growing.
Origin of the feud
After the ban, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Netherlands of acting like Nazi remnants. He also accused the Netherlands of state terrorism and having a "rotten" character. The Turkish President stated the Dutch were responsible for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, allowing Bosnian Serb forces to kill up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
Prior to Turkey imposing diplomatic sanctions on the Netherlands, Rutte warned Turkey that his country would never negotiate under threats. Rutte stated that he would try to de-escalate the row, but stressed that it takes two to tango. Erdogan is lobbying for 5.5 million expatriate Turks to favour him in an upcoming referendum that would give him new powers to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint state officials and ministers, and dissolve parliament.
