ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday likened a Dutch ban on his foreign minister’s visit to Nazism, in a dramatic escalation of a row over campaign events abroad for Turkey’s high stakes referendum.

The leader’s strongly-worded comments came after The Hague said it would refuse Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s plane permission to land ahead of a rally to gather support for boosting Erdogan’s powers.

The Dutch decision to ban Cavusoglu from visiting and holding a rally in the port city of Rotterdam came after Germany and other European nations also saw moves to block campaign events.

Unlike in Germany, however, where a string of planned rallies were barred by local authorities, in the Netherlands it was the government that stepped in to block Cavusoglu’s visit.

“They are the vestiges of the Nazis, they are fascists,” Erdogan told an Istanbul rally on Saturday, days after he angrily compared moves to block rallies in Germany to “Nazi practices”.

“Ban our foreign minister from flying however much you like, but from now on let’s see how your flights will land in Turkey,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish foreign ministry swiftly announced it had summoned the Dutch deputy ambassador in protest over the ban. The Dutch government said in a statement that its decision to bar Cavusoglu from visiting followed a Turkish threat of sanctions.

“For that reason the Netherlands has let it be known it will withdraw permission to land” for the minister’s plane, it said.

The Netherlands is home to some 400,000 people of Turkish origin, and Ankara is keen to harness votes of the diaspora in Europe ahead of the April 16 referendum.

Erdogan accused the Netherlands of working against the “Yes” campaign and said: “Pressure however much you like. Abet terrorists in your country however much you like.

“It will backlash, and there’s no doubt that we’ll start retaliating after April 16... We are patient. Whoever is patient will reach victory.” The latest escalation came after a string of European towns and cities cancelled similar campaign rallies, citing logistical difficulties and security concerns.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders had warned on Thursday that his government would not facilitate Cavusoglu’s visit.

“We will not participate in a visit by a Turkish government official who wants to conduct a political campaign for a referendum,” he said.

Dutch far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders celebrated the government’s ban, attributing it to “heavy PVV pressure”, in a reference to his party. “I call on Prime Minister (Mark) Rutte, in the name of millions of Dutch people, to refuse the Turkish minister access to the Netherlands!” he tweeted earlier on Saturday.

“Don’t let him land here!” wrote Wilders, whose party appears set to emerge as one of the largest in parliament in Wednesday’s vote.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2017