Sunday, March 12, 2017

Riots Follow Dutch expulsion of Turkish Minister

Turkey’s family minister, Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, was prevented from reaching the Turkish consulate in Rotterdam and was taken to the German border by police and expelled from the Netherlands.  She was trying to win support among expatriates for a referendum on expanding Turkish presidential powers. The Dutch government forbade such rallies as they would stoke tensions before the Dutch general parliamentary elections on Wednesday. Afterwards, Dutch-Turkish demonstrators started riots. The police used officers on horseback and water cannons to disperse about 1,000 people from outside the Turkish consulate. There were some wounded and several arrests were made.