Germany Austria and Netherlands diss Erdogan, who vows a tsunami of refugees

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Sunday, August 23, 2026 19:33
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SIGNYM

Saturday, March 18, 2017 9:57 PM

A Constitutional referendum is being held in Turkey which will give people the option of voting for more powers for the Turkish President (who happens to be Erdogan)

There are 18 proposed amendments to the Constitution, including

Introducing an executive presidency that would replace the existing parliamentary system of government
Abolishing the Office of the Prime Minister
Raising of the number of seats in Parliament from 550 to 600
Changing in the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors

So this is a Big Deal because it will change the form of government from Parliamentarian to Presidential.

Erdogan wanted to campaign for this proposal in areas of Europe where there are large Turkish populations who would be eligible to vote in the election. Unfortunately (for him) Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands all refused to allow electioneering in their nations, citing Erdogan's "undemocratic" actions. (Now, personally, I would have refused Erdogan but on different grounds - if I allow one side to campaign, it seems to me that I would have to allow the opposing viewpoint equally.)

In return, Erdogan called Merkel a "Nazi", called the Dutch "Fascists" and has promised a "religious war" in Europe, by population takeover (all Turkish women should have at least five children) and unleashing a tsunami of refugees.

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SIGNYM

Saturday, March 18, 2017 10:25 PM

Quote:

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You’ve probably all heard about the diplomatic scandal between Ankara and Amsterdam. This conflict, which arose after Dutch authorities prevented Turkish ministers from campaigning for Erdogan among the local Turkish diaspora, has already poured over the Netherlands’ borders and could lead to very serious consequences for the entire European Union.

How did this all start?

Turkey will soon hold a referendum that is very important for Erdogan. If he wins, he’ll gain virtually unlimited power over Turkey. But in order to win, he needs to enlist the support of the multi-million Turkish diaspora living in EU countries, a large part of whom have kept their Turkish passports, and therefore the right to vote. Erdogan sent his ministers on a promotional tour throughout EU countries to hold thousands-strong rallies of local Turks who support Erdogan’s policies. But alas, in Holland, elections were also scheduled and the Eurosceptic party of Geerd Wilders, who opposes the Islamization of Europe, had significant chances of winning. For the Dutch government, a thousands-strong rally of Turks in support of Erdogan in Amsterdam or any other Dutch city would have been a PR disaster that would once again demonstrate to voters that the Netherlands has all but become a Turkish province. It was decided to avert this catastrophe by preventing the Turkish minister from entering the country and stopping the diaspora from rallying. Unauthorized protests were suppressed with the usual cruelty of a tolerant European country. Dogs and water cannons with cold water were unleashed on protesters.

Erdogan clearly could not tolerate such a public humiliation and opted for retaliatory steps. He stated that the Dutch are “remnants of the Nazis” and “fascists,” which took the conflict to a new level. Several European leaders expressed solidarity with Dutch Prime Minister Rutte, especially Angela Merkel, and Erdogan’s emissaries started being banned across the EU, as were Turkish rallies.

In response, the Turkish President accused Germany of using “Nazi practices”, which did not win him any sympathy in Berlin. Merkel stated that the attacks on her were absurd, and stressed that she would not stoop to such “provocation competitions” initiated by Turkey.

This whole affair might have remained a funny episode in Turkish-European relations had Ankara not decided to raise the stakes once again.

According to the British TV channel ITV, Turkish Vice Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that Europe has not fulfilled its part of the agreement on refugees. To recall, the EU and Turkey concluded an agreement on temporarily freezing the so-called “refugee crisis” that recently erupted in Europe due to the influx of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, many of whom came to Europe through Turkey. The deal between Erdogan and the European leadership was simple: Europe would pay money, and Erdogan would not allow refugees into Europe. If the deal really is broken, this could have very serious consequences.

This year, elections are being held not only in Holland, but also France and Germany. If Erdogan really does open the “refugee tap”, then this would be a serious blow to the electoral prospects of Angela Merkel’s party and might even raise Marine Le Pen’s chances of winning in France.

The migrant problem is already so acute that if the number of migrants starts to rapidly grow, then no propaganda or tales of Russian hackers will impress voters, who are justified in fearing the growth of ethnic criminality and terrorism, not to mention the huge sums to be allocated for resettling and maintaining hundreds of thousands or even millions of new refugees.

The situation is complicated by the fact that European countries’ leaderships have simply no plain and quick solutions to solve this potential crisis. Establishing a secure external border for the EU in only a few months is impossible. Sending warships to sink refugee boats off of the Greek coast is possible, but would be a PR disaster for the EU leadership. And who among European

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