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Award-winning US rapper, Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, known professionally as Nicki Minaj was freed from custody on May 25, Saturday following a short arrest by Netherlands police officers due to allegations of soft drug trafficking(marijuana).

Apparently, Minaj was arrested on her way to Manchester, England, from Amsterdam, Netherlands for a concert on her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.

The rapper revealed this on her Instagram Live Saturday afternoon.

Although, the 12-time Grammy nominee refuted the accusations, the officials persisted in searching her luggages.

However, Minaj tweeted as the events were unfolding, making her case with the officers.

“They took my bags without consent and seemed to admit there was marijuana but that it belongs to her security staff.” She wrote.

Meanwhile, the Co-op Live arena in Manchester on Saturday night, where Minaj was expected to perform was postponed.

Subsequently, in a social media post, she said she arrived at her hotel in Manchester the same day.

“After sitting in a jail cell for 5 to 6 hours, my plane still didn’t take off for another 20 minutes once I boarded the 50 minutes flight from Amsterdam”. She wrote.

She then apologized to her fans and spectators.

“Please, please, please accept my deepest and most sincere apologies. They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today, but this too shall pass”. She added.

Additionally, a video has posted on Nicki Minaj’s Instagram shows an unnamed airport employee explaining to the rapper that her bags will be searched, following an apology to Minaj.

Nicki Minaj is an American rapper and songwriter often regarded as the ‘Rap Queen’.

For a female rapper, Minaj has the most number one albums (3) and top-ten songs (23) in the US.

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Elon Musk, the world’s second-richest billionaire, has experienced the largest wealth increase this year despite intense investor pressure to buy Tesla stock.

His net worth has increased by a whopping $45 billion between January and now.

With a net worth of $182 billion, Mr. Musk’s net worth is now close to that of Bernard Arnault ($187 billion) who is currently the world’s richest man.

Tesla’s share rise: The share price of the electric vehicle manufacturer has risen by 65% to $201.29 since January. Tesla’s increase in value, along with the overall market’s upward trend, came in with stronger-than-anticipated fourth-quarter earnings, and other events that the market saw as favorable portents of future performance.

Investors are placing a lot of money on the stock since data indicates that the company is doing well despite heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The company’s Q4 results, which were released on Jan. 25 by the company, served as the most favourable valuation trigger.

Tesla’s financial report: The EV manufacturer reported non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $1.19 on revenue of $24.32 billion, compared to the consensus analyst expectation of $1.13 on $24.16 billion in sales.

The stock received a new boost of positive momentum from the top and bottom-line beats, but there were other drivers of performance in the previous month

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The 37-year-old had in 2019 hung up his boots before reversing the decision to return to his first club Groningen last season.

Robben, a Chelsea legend who back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006, has decided to end his playing career for good.

Robben won two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup with Chelsea during a stellar career.

He also played at PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and won 96 caps for his country, scoring 37 goals.

Robben is also a Bayern legend as he showed his best form at the Bundesliga side, following his 2009 move from Real Madrid, where he won the La Liga in his first season.

The winger helped Bayern to a treble four years later by scoring in the Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. He stayed in Bavaria until his first retirement.

Robben, who played in the 2010 World Cup final with Netherlands, quit international football in 2017 when they failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

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A popular Dutch crime journalist, Peter R de Vries has been seriously wounded after he was shot in a street in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on Tuesday 6th July 2021.

According to a police report, Peter R de Vries was taken to hospital in a serious condition after being shot in the city centre on Tuesday evening, minutes after appearing on a TV chat show.

Five shots were fired at close range and Mr de Vries, 64, was hit in the head, local media report.

Police say they have arrested three people in connection with the shooting.

Two suspects were arrested in a car on the A4 motorway at Leidschendam, and a third in Amsterdam, with the gunman believed to be among them.

‘Heartless attack’

Mr de Vries was previously given police protection after receiving threats for his involvement in criminal cases as an investigative journalist and in court.

The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, said he was “fighting for his life” and condemned his shooting as a “cruel, heartless attack”.

Police are appealing for witnesses and CCTV footage of the shooting but are asking people not to share the material on social media.

The shooting has shaken the Netherlands, and messages of support for the investigative journalist have come from many leading figures, including royalty.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima said they were “deeply shocked” and that “journalists must be unthreatened and free to do their important work.”

A victim of a crime he reported on

Peter R de Vries rose to prominence reporting on the types of crimes he has fallen victim to.

The attempt on his life has stunned not only Dutch society but particularly the professions he has played such a critical role within – journalism and criminal justice.

Mayor Femke Halsema described Mr de Vries as a national hero, “brave, looking for justice, free spirit, helping people in distress, parents of murdered children”.

He was immersed in the job and his involvement in numerous high-profile cases resulted in repeated calls from the underworld for his “liquidation”.

The Dutch Bar Association has released a statement describing the “brutal attack” as having an enormous impact on the legal profession.

Mr de Vries is a regular on Dutch chat shows. Last week he launched a crowdfunding campaign to try to raise a million euros to solve a cold case before the parents of the victim, Tanja Groen, passed away.

Humberto Tan, a TV presenter, described Mr de Vries as a journalist with an enormous heart.

‘Hope and pray’

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave a news conference after meeting counter-terrorism officials and police in The Hague.

Mr Rutte said free journalism was “crucial for society” and acknowledged the anger and devastation witnessed in response to the attack.

“Our thoughts are with Peter R de Vries’ loved ones. The most important thing, we hope and pray he survives,” he said.

Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus paid tribute to an “extraordinary journalist”, calling Mr de Vries an “admirable warrior against injustice for the underdog”.

Court role

As a reporter, he has covered numerous high-profile crimes, including the 1983 kidnapping of beer magnate Freddy Heineken.

In 2013 Heineken’s kidnapper, Willem Holleeder was convicted of making threats against Mr de Vries.

One of the Netherlands’ most notorious gangsters, Holleeder was given a life sentence in 2019 for his involvement in five murders.

Mr de Vries won an Emmy for his investigative work on the killing of Natalee Holloway, a US teenager who disappeared on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005.

Dutch broadcaster NOS said he frequently acted as a spokesperson or confidant for witnesses in police or court cases.

It said he had been acting as an adviser to Nabil B, a state witness testifying in the case against Ridouan Taghi, an alleged drug kingpin.

The Moroccan-Dutch suspect and his associates are currently on trial in the Netherlands for murder and drug trafficking.

Until his arrest in Dubai in late 2019, Mr Taghi had been listed among Europe’s most-wanted fugitives by the EU police agency Europol.

A former gang member, Nabil B is said to be a key witness in the trial.

The case has already sent shock waves through the Netherlands after Nabil B’s previous lawyer Derk Wiersum was assassinated in front of his Amsterdam home in September 2019.

Source: BBC

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The Nigerian police has reacted after a Netherlands-based Nigerian, who returned home for the holidays, accused SARS of extortion. The returnee shared a screenshot of his bank transactions to show that 500,000 Naira had been transferred to the men alleged to be SARS officials and an additional 100,000 Naira cash was taken from him, making it a total of 600, 000 Naira (read here). The Nigerian Police Force reacted on Twitter, writing: “The Nigeria Police Force has seen the trending outcry on Twitter and has since commenced investigation into the alleged unfortunate act of extortion by “some suspected men of SARS”. The Force wishes to assure that the outcome of the investigation will be made public.” 

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9News Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday at The Hague called on the States Parties to support an International Criminal Court (ICC) with jurisdiction over serious cases of corruption and illicit financial flows by state actors.

The President also assured the international community of a free, fair and peaceful 2019 general elections in Nigeria, contrary to the tragic incidents that characterized the 2011 general elections, necessitating preliminary investigations by the ICC.

The Nigerian leader delivered the keynote address at the Solemn Hearing to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rome Statute of the ICC.

His words: ‘‘A strong and effective ICC has the potential to send a powerful message about the international community’s commitment to accountability, a message that will be heard by both victims and perpetrators. Equally, a strong and effective ICC demonstrates the international community’s commitment to the rule of law.

‘‘A strong and effective ICC can also act as a catalyst for other justice efforts, expanding the reach of accountability. These could include serious cases of corruption by state actors that severely compromise the development efforts of countries and throw citizens into greater poverty.

‘‘These could also include cases of illicit financial flows where countries are complicit and obstruct repatriation of stolen assets. As the African Union Champion on Anti-corruption, these are issues dear to my heart.’’

Referring to the tragic events in Nigeria in the aftermath of the 2011 general elections, which necessitated preliminary investigation by the Court, the President said: ‘‘Nigeria is preparing to conduct general elections in 2019…I assure you that all hands are on deck to prevent any recurrence of such tragic incidents. We shall do everything possible to ensure that Nigeria witnesses the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections in 2019.’’

The President had commenced his address by thanking the judges of the Court for electing ‘‘a cherished son of Nigeria’’ as President.

‘‘Let me start by congratulating you, Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, on your election as President of the International Criminal Court, and also thank the judges of the Court for electing you, a cherished son of Nigeria. Nigeria is very proud of you, Mr. President,’’ he said.

The Nigerian leader is the only President invited to grace the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the ICC Rome Statute.

Over 25 high-level state officials, the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, O-Gon Kwon, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, ICC Registrar Peter Lewis, UN Legal Counsel Miguel de Serpa Soares, and other special guests, attended the event.

Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 17, 2018

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9News Nigeria

THE Federal Government on Monday said that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to finding a lasting solution to the frequent clashes between herders and farmers in the country.

This is as Nigerians in the Netherlands have told the President to do everything within his power to end the mindless killings of Nigerians by the cattle herdsmen in the North Central part of the country.

Speaking in an interactive session with Nigerian post graduate students studying in Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Netherlands, widely regarded as one of the world’s top agricultural research institutions, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Audu Ogbeh, assured the students that government was on top of the security situation.

The Minister was responding to concerns raised by the students about the security situation in some North Central States in the country, particularly the clashes between pastoralists and farmers.

Ogbeh, the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredeolu of Ondo State who are part of President Buhari’s official delegation to the Netherlands, had visited the Research Centre for greenhouses in Bleiswijk, operated by WUR.

After a guided tour of the Centre, Ogbeh told the students that Nigeria was looking forward to their innovation, learning, expertise and knowledge to address some of the current challenges in the agriculture and food security sectors.

According to him, ‘‘We congratulate you on coming here to pursue your studies, and we expect that when you get back, you’ll find a different situation in the country because we will need some of you to manage the ranches.
‘‘When you do return, it’s people like you whom we hope we can organise to manage the ranches. There will be water, there will be fodder, and there will be electricity and some accommodation for the herdsmen.

‘‘Believe me, after six months, when the herdsmen realise that this new life is better than roaming through the bush, you will have to force him to leave that place.

‘‘It’s going to be slow, it’s going to be a bit expensive but we must end the crisis. We have to stop it because the crisis is unnecessary. The killings are undesirable.”

The Minister also explained the Federal Government’s decision to encourage ranching in the States, following recommendations by the National Economic Council in March this year.

He said, ‘‘We want to have large ranches because we discovered in our research that we have 450 grazing reserves created from 1952 to 1966.

‘‘The entire land mass is 5 million hectares some of which has been encroached upon leaving some 4 million hectares. This is more than enough to keep 80 million cows, assuming if we have 17 cows per hectare.

‘‘So we have the land and we are committed to developing it by providing water and protecting livestock from rustlers.”

On his takeaway from the tour of the Centre, Ogbeh said Nigeria had a lot to learn, and replicate at home, on agricultural innovation from the Netherlands, which is the second largest exporter of food, second only to the United States.
Speaking to the students, the NSA encouraged them to consider the ‘‘security angle’’ in their agricultural research to improve the situation at home, in terms of diminishing water, shrinking of spaces, insecurity and others.

‘‘We have spent years from 1964 till now, doing feasibility studies on how to get water back into Lake Chad. Something is wrong if we keep going on and on in perpetuity without getting any result.

‘‘If we are able to solve the problem of lack of water in the Lake Chad, it will discourage people from migrating in large numbers to other places.

‘‘I think we also have to ask young people like you, young men and women, new generation to begin to interface with people in this environment, your colleagues from the Netherlands on how we can deal with this problem,’’ Monguno said.

Meanwhile, Nigerians in the Netherlands have told the President to live up to his responsibility and stop the killings in the North Central geo-political zone of the country.

Chairman of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO, Julius Nnamdi Nwankpa, urged the government and security team to accelerate stoppage of unfortunate killings, while also calling on Nigerians “to play their roles in breaking the cycle of violence, which usually has no winner.”

Nnamdi commended President Buhari for the war against corruption, “for which you have earned respect around the world,” high improvement in infrastructural development, and for signing into law the Diaspora Commission Bill, which he hoped would “become effective as soon as possible.”

The President had while addressing members of Nigerians in Diaspora, on the sidelines of his official visit to The Hague, Netherlands said, “I am pleased with the quality of people I am seeing. You are high quality people.

Congratulations on your personal achievements.”

He said that he was quite pleased with their intellectual and professional achievements, and lauded them for representing Nigeria well, and for always being in touch with their motherland.

Among those who met President Buhari were Nwankpa, Chairman NIDO, Dr Mustapha Gidado, a specialist in tuberculosis, having oversight over management of the disease in 22 countries, Lola Visser Mabogunje, a performance monitoring expert, Dr Peter Ngene, a research scientist and Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, Engineer Cornelius Obot, a software expert, and Toyin Loyo, an artist and culture enthusiast of international repute.

Speaking on behalf of the the delegation presented the gift of an artwork called Light to President Buhari, with Toyin Loyo, the creator of the work saying: “The work is illuminating. You bring light, which will never go out, and which will shine round the clock.”

©Vanguard

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AMSTERDAM – The Netherlands’ centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte was on course for a resounding victory over anti-Islam and anti-EU Geert Wilders in an election on Wednesday, offering huge relief to other EU governments facing a wave of nationalism.

“It appears that the VVD will be the biggest party in the Netherlands for the third time in a row,” a beaming Rutte told cheering supporters at a post-election party in The Hague. “Tonight we’ll celebrate a little.”

Rutte received congratulatory messages from European leaders and spoke with some by telephone.

“It is also an evening in which the Netherlands, after Brexit, after the American elections, said ‘stop’ to the wrong kind of populism,” he said.

Wilders said he had not achieved the electoral victory he had hoped for and was ready to offer tough opposition.

“I would rather have been the largest party…. but we are not a party that has lost. We gained seats. That’s a result to be proud of,” Wilder told journalists.

With 55 percent of votes counted, Rutte’s VVD Party was projected to win 32 of parliament’s 150 seats, down from 41 at the last vote in 2012. Wilders was in a three-way tie for second on 19 seats with the Christian Democrat CDA and centrist Democrats 66, data provided by the ANP news agency showed.

At 81 percent, turnout was the highest in 30 years in an election that was a test of whether the Dutch wanted to end decades of liberalism and choose a nationalist, anti-immigrant path by voting for Wilders and his promise to “de-Islamicise” the Netherlands and quit the European Union.   Continued…

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch election has centred on the fight between the two hard right candidates, anti-Islam maverick Geert Wilders and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, but the leader of the Christian Democrats has crept to within striking distance of topping the poll.

Sybrand Buma’s Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) is all but certain to participate in the next governing coalition, regardless of who wins, and Buma even has a long-shot chance of becoming prime minister after Wednesday’s vote, given other parties’ refusal to work with Wilders.

The latest polls show the right-leaning, low-profile Buma trailing Rutte’s VVD by 4 percentage points and just 1 point behind Wilders’ PVV, on a rising trend. He could command around 20 seats in a fractured 150-seat parliament.

Since Feb. 24, the CDA has gone up in every one of the 11 polling updates in a poll of polls – the only party to do so.

Buma told Reuters all the pre-election talk had been that “this campaign would be about a rivalry between Rutte and Wilders. What’s left of that dual? We are getting stronger every day and the chance that we are the biggest on election day is very real, and no one is expecting it.”

Buma has gained ground by adopting a tough line similar to Rutte’s on immigration, adding a focus on communal values and a touch of nationalism to tap voter concerns about Dutch identity.

He has proposed introducing singing the national anthem in schools and mandatory community service, but supports remaining in the European Union and keeping the euro currency – albeit with some reluctance.

The CDA campaign is “very much about moral issues rather than economic issues”, Buma said. Compulsory social service for youths, he said, would help them see that society is “not only what’s in it for you … but also what you give back”.   Continued…

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Leaders of European Union countries have criticized Turkey, while the dispute over the Turkish government’s attempts to hold rallies in European countries has been growing since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Germany and the Netherlands of “Nazism” and “fascism” because officials blocked rallies there.

Erdogan warned the Netherlands Sunday it would “pay a price” for refusing to allow Ankara’s foreign minister into the country and expelling another minister to keep them from holding rallies with Turkish immigrants.

Ankara wants to drum up support among millions of Turks who live and work in Europe to vote to give Erdogan more powers, which could lead to him remaining in office until 2029.

Officials slam Erdogan remarks

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called Erdogan’s comments “unacceptable,” and his Nazi comment “a crazy remark.”

“Turkey is a proud nation; the Netherlands is a proud nation,” Rutte said.”We can never do business under those sorts of threats and blackmail.”

German ministers have also hardened their remarks against Turkey.

Despite a statement by Chancellor Angela Merkel that her government was not opposed to Turkish ministers attending rallies in Germany – as long as they are “duly announced” – Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he was opposed to Turkish political gatherings in Germany. “A Turkish campaign has no business being here in Germany,” de Maiziere told local media.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said he hoped Turkey would “return to its senses.” Separately, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Turkey had “destroyed the basis for further progress in co-operation.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Erdogan was not welcome to hold rallies there as this could increase friction and hinder integration.

Denmark’s prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said he was concerned that “democratic principles are under great pressure” in Turkey.Rasmussen also postponed a planned meeting with Erdogan, saying “with the current Turkish attacks on Holland, the meeting cannot be seen separated from that.”

A gathering in France, however, went ahead after local officials said it did not pose a threat.

Dutch block Turkish ministers

The two Ankara officials – Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya – were trying to rally Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands with Turkish voting rights to support Erdogan’s bid to win a referendum next month to give him sweeping new powers.

The Dutch government, facing a tough re-election contest Wednesday against the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders, barred Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam.It then blocked Kaya from entering the Turkish embassy in the port city before escorting her out of the country to Germany.

Dutch far-right leader Wilders waded into the debate this past week ahead of a planned rally in The Hague where the Dutch parliament is located.

“We are in Holland here, not in Turkey, and a Turkish minister has no room here to lobby for somebody like Erdogan, who is a mere dictator,” Wilders said.

An angry Erdogan told a ceremony in Istanbul, “Hey Holland! If you are sacrificing Turkish-Dutch relations for the sake of the elections on Wednesday, you will pay a price.”

Earlier Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a statement that Turkey would retaliate against Amsterdam in the “harshest ways” and “respond in kind to this unacceptable behavior.”

Ankara barred the Dutch ambassador from returning to Turkey, with Cavusoglu saying, “we have other steps in mind.We’ve already begun planning them.We will certainly take those steps and more.”Turkish officials sealed off the Dutch embassy in Ankara.

Source – VOA

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ANKARA – The Turkish cabinet was on Monday expected to consider imposing sanctions on the Netherlands in a deepening row with its NATO ally over a ban on its ministers speaking at political events in Rotterdam, and one minister said punitive measures were likely.

President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking support from Turks in a referendum on boosting his powers, has accused the Dutch government of acting like “Nazi remnants” and said it should face sanctions for barring his ministers from addressing expatriate Turks to drum up votes.

The row marks another low point in relations between Turkey and Europe, further dimming Ankara’s prospects of joining the bloc. It also comes as Turkey is caught up by security concerns over militant attacks and the war in neighbouring Syria.

A source close to the government told Reuters that sanctions were expected to be discussed when the cabinet of ministers meets at 7 pm (1600 GMT). Ankara’s minister for EU Affairs, Omer Celik, said sanctions were likely.

“We will surely have sanctions against the latest actions by the Netherlands. We will answer them with these,” Celik said.

Apart from any economic measures, a source in Ankara said sanctions could affect cultural activities, and military and technological cooperation.

Turkey summoned the Dutch charge d’affaires on Monday to complain about the ban – imposed due to fears of unrest and distaste at what the Netherlands sees as an increasingly authoritarian tone from Erdogan – and the actions of Rotterdam police against Turkish protesters over the weekend, foreign ministry sources said.

On Sunday, Dutch police used dogs and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some protesters threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.   Continued…

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ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey summoned the Dutch envoy in Ankara on Monday to complain about the actions of Rotterdam police against Turkish protesters over the weekend, foreign ministry sources said.

In a diplomatic note, Turkey’s foreign ministry said that the police intervention was disproportionate and called for legal action against police misconduct, the sources said.

Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some protesters threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.

The protests were sparked after the Netherlands barred Turkish ministers from speaking in Rotterdam, fuelling a row over Ankara’s political campaigning abroad. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is looking to the large number of Turks living in Europe to help secure victory next month in a referendum that would give his office sweeping powers.

Source – Reuters

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ANKARA/ROTTERDAM – President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday the Netherlands was acting like a “banana republic” and should face sanctions for barring Turkish ministers from speaking in Rotterdam, fuelling a row over Ankara’s political campaigning abroad.

Erdogan is looking to the large number of Turks living in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, to help secure victory next month in a referendum that would give the presidency sweeping new powers.

In a speech in France, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the Netherlands as the “capital of fascism” as it joined other European countries in stopping Turkish politicians holding rallies, due to fears that tensions in Turkey might spill over into their expatriate communities.

The Dutch government barred Cavusoglu from flying to Rotterdam on Saturday and later stopped Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish consulate there, before escorting her out of the country to Germany.

Dutch police used dogs and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police officers charged the crowd.

The Dutch government – set to lose about half its seats in elections this week, according to polls, as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders makes strong gains – said the visits were undesirable and it would not cooperate in their campaigning.

“I call on all international organisations in Europe and elsewhere to impose sanctions on the Netherlands,” Erdogan said, after his prime minister earlier said Turkey would retaliate in the “harshest ways”, without specifying how.

“Has Europe said anything? No. Why? Because they don’t bite each other. The Netherlands are acting like a banana republic,” Erdogan said in a speech in Kocaeli province, near Istanbul.   Continued…

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned the Netherlands it will “pay the price” for harming ties after two of his ministers were barred.

Mr Erdogan said: “We will teach them international diplomacy.”

The two ministers were blocked from addressing Turkish expatriates in Rotterdam on Saturday, with one of them escorted to the German border.

The Dutch government said such rallies would stoke tensions days before the Netherlands’ general election.

The ministers were seeking support among expatriate voters for a referendum on expanding Turkish presidential powers.

Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, Turkey’s family minister, had arrived by road on Saturday but was denied entry to the consulate in Rotterdam and was taken to the German border by Dutch police.

Image copyrightREUTERS

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tried to fly in but was refused entry.

Water cannon and riot police on horseback were deployed to disperse about 1,000 people protesting outside the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam overnight.

‘Capital of fascism’

Turkey’s relations with several EU countries are in the spotlight ahead of the referendum:

• Mr Cavusoglu called the Netherlands the “capital of fascism” after he was refused entry
• Mr Erdogan accused Germany of “Nazi practices” after similar rallies were cancelled – words Chancellor Angela Merkel described as “unacceptable”
• Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen has proposed postponing a planned meeting with Turkey’s prime minister, saying he is “very concerned at current developments in Turkey, where democratic principles are under great pressure”
• Local French officials have allowed a Turkish rally in Metz, saying it does not pose a public order threat – while France’s foreign ministry has urged Turkey to avoid provocations

Mr Erdogan focused his rhetoric on the Netherlands on Sunday, accusing the Dutch of “sacrificing Turkish-Dutch relations for the sake of the elections on Wednesday”.

Threatening to travel to rallies abroad himself, he added: “The West has clearly shown its true face in the last couple of days. What we have seen… is a clear manifestations of Islamophobia.

“I have said that I had thought that Nazism was over, but that I was wrong. Nazism is alive in the West,” he said.

But he thanked France for allowing Mr Cavusoglu to travel to the northern city of Metz to address the rally there on Sunday, saying: “France was not deceived by such games.

At a protest outside the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, the Dutch flag was briefly replaced with a Turkish one, which was later removed.

The Netherlands’ foreign ministry responded by saying that the Turkish authorities were responsible for the safety of Dutch diplomats in Turkey.

‘Unacceptable blackmail’

Dutch PM Mark Rutte said Mr Erdogan’s comment on Saturday that the Dutch were “Nazi remnants and fascists” was “unacceptable”.

The Dutch government is facing a severe electoral challenge from the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders in its election on Wednesday.

Image copyrightEPA

Reports say the owner of a venue in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, has also cancelled a pro-Erdogan rally on Sunday that was to have been attended by Turkey’s agriculture minister.

Sweden’s foreign ministry said it was not involved in the decision and that the event could take place elsewhere.

What is the row about?

Turkey is holding a referendum on 16 April on whether to turn from a parliamentary to a presidential republic, more akin to the United States.

If successful, it would give sweeping new powers to the president, allowing him or her to appoint ministers, prepare the budget, choose the majority of senior judges and enact certain laws by decree.

Image copyrightAFP

What’s more, the president alone would be able to announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament.

In order to get it passed, Mr Erdogan needs the votes of citizens living within Turkey and abroad.

There are 5.5 million Turks living outside the country, with 1.4 million eligible voters in Germany alone – and the Yes campaign is keen to get them on side.

So a number of rallies have been planned for countries with large numbers of expat voters, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

However, Mr Erdogan’s supporters have found themselves blocked from holding these rallies.

Why are countries trying to prevent the rallies?

Many of the countries, including Germany, have cited security concerns as the official reason.

Image copyrightAFP

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Mr Erdogan was not welcome to hold rallies as this could increase friction and hinder integration.

Many European nations have also expressed deep disquiet about Turkey’s response to the July coup attempt and the country’s perceived slide towards authoritarianism under President Erdogan.

Germany in particular has been critical of the mass arrests and purges that followed – with nearly 100,000 civil servants removed from their posts.

Source – Reuters

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By Anthony Deutsch

GRONINGEN, Netherlands (Reuters) – Dozens of migrants are sheltering on a former hospital ship in a Dutch canal, beneficiaries of a “Bed, Bath, Bread” programme for asylum seekers. But their hopes of settlement are dimming with the anti-immigrant right poised for a surge at the ballot box.

Polls suggest the far-right ticket will double its vote in the March 15 election, riding perceptions that many years of Muslim immigration threaten to erode Dutch national identity.

Despite statistics showing there are fewer foreigners in the Netherlands than commonly believed, many voters feel Muslim immigrants are failing to integrate and running down a once-generous health and welfare system.

Even if firebrand nationalist leader Geert Wilders does not enter the next ruling coalition given the refusal of “establishment” parties to work with him, he has managed to push the mainstream political agenda to the anti-immigrant right.

In the northern coastal town of Groningen, dozens of mainly Muslim men and women – Africans, Arabs and some Iranians – sit at bare tables and chat quietly in the living quarters fashioned out of a ship where hospital patients were once treated.

They are awaiting decisions on appeals of government rejections of their asylum applications, a process that has dragged on for years during which the Netherlands began to crack down hard on economic migrants. In the meantime, they are grateful for the refuge from the harsh North Sea winter.

Groningen opened its “Bed, Bath, Bread” facility for 100 asylum seekers in January after the government of conservative Prime Minister Mark Rutte cut off BBB funding, and it plans to expand capacity to 300 people later this year.

About 30 other Dutch cities and towns run BBB shelters too. They accommodate thousands of asylum seekers in legal limbo.

“Four years ago I was alone. You know how life is outside, without help, but at this moment I am grateful,” said Moussa Sall. He said he fled political violence in Guinea, West Africa and drifted across Europe before arriving in Groningen.

Sall and his cohorts were aware and worried about swelling anti-immigrant sentiment represented by Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV), but seemed loath to discuss sensitive domestic politics.

“I would like to stay here and work as a hairdresser. I have started learning the language. It’s not possible to go back to my country for the moment. It’s dangerous for me,” said Sall.

POPULIST PRESSURE

That is not the position taken by Rutte’s government, which under the populist pressure of Wilders has imposed some of the toughest immigration policies in the European Union since 2012.

It has cut off funding for BBB facilities and shortened the period of shelter for failed applicants to 28 days unless they agree to leave and stay in semi-detention prior to deportation.

The government has also expanded the list of “safe” countries to which rejected migrants can be legally returned and outlawed the wearing in public of face veils by Muslim women.

The nationalist current changing Dutch politics reflects a deep souring of public attitudes towards immigrants in a country long known for liberalism and multicultural tolerance, rooted in centuries of maritime history.

The welcome showered on hundreds of thousands of Moroccan and Turkish workers a few decades ago has turned to resentment at open-door, pro-EU policies under mainstream parties that may drive 20 percent of voters into the PVV’s arms at the polls next week.

That could make Wilders’ party the biggest in parliament, though it is still unlikely to enter government as all its mainstream rivals have vowed to ostracise the PVV.

But diverging views among a handful of contending parties in the election about how many immigrants to accept and where to shelter them could make the formation of the next government a complex, prolonged affair.

IMMIGRATION HAS RISEN, NOT SOARED

The percentage of non-Western immigrants in the founding EU member state rose from 7.5 percent of the population in 1996 to 12.1 percent in 2015, according to Statistics Netherlands.

In 2015, when a record 1.2 million asylum seekers – often Muslims fleeing Syria’s civil war – flowed into the EU, the Netherlands took in 43,000 of them, roughly in line with the 28-nation bloc’s average.

That year, the Netherlands accepted 2,546 asylum seekers per one million inhabitants, compared with 5,441 in Germany and 1,063 in France, according to Eurostat. The Dutch intake fell by half in 2016 thanks to an EU deal with Turkey that curbed migration via that country to neighbouring Europe.

Yet the perception of the number of Muslims in the Netherlands greatly outstrips reality.

A 2016 Ipsos poll found most Dutch believed 19 percent of the country’s 17 million population is Muslim, rather than the actual 5 percent. Ipsos found a similar gap between perceptions and truth in France.

Wilders condemns Moroccans for being over-represented in Dutch crime and welfare statistics. He wants to close the border to non-Western immigrants, shut down hundreds of mosques and take the Netherlands out of the EU.

Jesse Klaver, a Greens politician, said Dutch culture was not threatened by immigration but by an intolerant far right. “We are not a racist country. It’s not about immigrants or Islam. It’s about social, economic problems. People who have to pay too much tax and can’t make a living,” he said.

LAWSUITS

Groningen and other municipalities decided to pay for migrant shelters themselves after talks with Rutte’s cabinet about funding the BBB programme collapsed.

Several lawsuits ensued, including by asylum seekers who won the right to shelter in Amsterdam.

Groningen officials said they were honouring a 2014 decision by the European Committee on Social Rights, part of the Council of Europe rights watchdog, that the Dutch must provide shelter and medical care to the homeless as a fundamental human right.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, accused mainstream parties of not standing up to populists ahead of elections in the Netherlands, Germany and France, but instead adopting their policies for short-term political gain.

Such criticism has not swayed Rutte’s conservatives. He published an open letter in January, weeks before election campaigning began, telling immigrants to accept Dutch values and blend in or go home.

Immigrants reacted with consternation and anger in social media posts. A poll last month found that 40 percent of Turks and Moroccans no longer feel at home in the Netherlands.

(For graphic on Dutch election candidates click here)

(For graphic on Dutch party approval ratings click here)

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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