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Rotterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said a Dutch ban on his foreign minister's visit was like Nazism, as tensions rocketed over rallies abroad to help Ankara gain backing for a key vote.

His comments came after the Netherlands said it would refuse Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu permission to land for a rally to gather support for a referendum on 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 blocked similar campaign events.

Unlike in Germany, 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 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.

Around 1,000 people waving Turkish flags protested outside the consulate in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam on Saturday evening, watched by a large police presence.

Turkey's Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya appeared at the scene after reportedly travelling overland from Germany, but Turkish TV said she was stopped by Dutch police some 30 metres (yards) short of the consulate.

"We've been here for about four hours. We were not even offered water," she told the NTV television channel. "(Dutch) police are not allowing me to enter the consulate. "

"I was told to leave the country and return to Germany as soon as possible," she added. "I will not leave unless I am allowed to meet even for five minutes with our citizens."

The Dutch public broadcaster NOS said police were planning to escort Kaya back to the border with Germany. Police would not confirm anything to AFP.

- Cavusoglu flies to France -

Cavusoglu flew to France where he is expected to address a rally Sunday in the eastern city of Metz. A French official said the visit had been cleared by the foreign ministry in Paris.

As the row raged, Turkish foreign ministry sources said the Dutch embassy in Ankara and consulate in Istanbul had both been sealed off for "security reasons".

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Erdogan's criticism was "crazy."

"I understand that they are angry but this is way out of line," he said. "I really think we made the right decision here."

Cavusoglu, speaking in Istanbul, said the ban was "unacceptable".

"Why are you taking sides in the referendum?" he said, adding: "Is the foreign minister of Turkey a terrorist?"

The Turkish foreign ministry said the Dutch charge d'affaires in Ankara was summoned and told that Turkey did not want the Dutch ambassador -- currently on holiday -- to return "for a while".

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 on creating an executive presidency.

The Turkish government argues the changes would ensure stability and create more efficient governance but opponents say it would lead to one-man rule and further inflame tensions in its diverse society.

- Backlash threat -

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."

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, which appears set to emerge as one of the largest in elections to the Dutch parliament on Wednesday.

The latest row came after NATO allies Turkey and Germany sparred over the cancellation of a series of referendum campaign events there.

Germany is home to 1.4 million people eligible to vote in Turkey -- the fourth-largest electoral base after Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Although Berlin insisted that the string of cancellations by local authorities were down to logistical reasons, Turkish officials repeatedly hit back, leading to Erdogan's angry "Nazi" remark.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said such rhetoric was "depressing", belittled Holocaust victims and was "so out of place as to be unworthy of serious comment".

Berlin has emerged as a strident critic of Ankara's crackdown after an attempted coup last July, which has seen more than 100,000 people arrested, suspended from their jobs or sacked for alleged links to the plotters or to Kurdish militants.

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Erdogan compares Dutch rally ban to Nazism as row spirals

A man pulls a cart in front of a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Taksim Square in Istanbul on March 15, 2017.

Politicians in Turkey and the European Union stoking tensions for short-term electoral gain may have done lasting damage to vital economic and security ties.

While relations between the EU and Turkey have been rocky for years, the furor of recent days -- with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan freely hurling the Nazi epithet at his western antagonists -- marks a rift that could prove irreparable. Turkey has been negotiating EU membership since 2005, but progress has come close to a halt.

Even without anyone saying it, Turkeys EU membership talks will go into an irreversible coma now, said Marc Pierini, who served as the EUs ambassador to Turkey from 2006-2011 and is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, a Brussels-based think tank. That will suit everybody, except Turkeys democrats.

Simmering tensions between the NATO allies boiled over when bitter campaigns were added to the mix last weekend. Dutch officials prevented Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing his plane to seek support among expatriates, expelled another cabinet minister from the country and quelled the ensuing protests by Dutch Turks. That prompted Erdogans denunciations.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte faced voters Wednesday, in which the anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders was his biggest challenger. Rutte took a tough line with Turkey and last-minute opinion polls suggest that was what voters wanted to see.

For his part, Erdogan is trying to rally support for constitutional changes to be voted on April 16. On Monday, a report by the Council of Europes legal watchdog, the Venice Commission, attacked the changes as anti-democratic, warning that the amendments would create a presidential system with no meaningful separation of powers and risk authoritarian rule.

Erdogans denunciations of the Netherlands, Germany and the EU as a whole as fascist has drowned those criticisms and rallied Turkish nationalists behind him. Even the main opposition, the Republican Peoples Party, has backed him. On Wednesday,hackers hijacked the Twitter accounts of major European news organizations and European Parliament legislators, posting swastikas and messages in support of Erdogan.

The harshness of Erdogans rhetoric will make any pretense at restoring the kind of EU-Turkish partnership that existed a decade ago difficult, if not impossible. At the same time, the rise of anti-Muslim populists such as Wilders and Frances Marine Le Pen is pushing even mainstream European parties to adopt some of their policies, turning any outreach to predominantly Muslim Turkey into a political liability.

Turkish officials appear to agree that a growing divide over values now separates the EU and Turkey.

It goes beyond a mere diplomatic spat and is symptomatic of a deeper problem, wrote Ibrahim Kalin, senior adviser and spokesman for Erdogan, in a Turkish newspaper column published March 14. European politicians are giving in to the type of racist and anti-Muslim populism that undermines the core values of democracy, civility, multiculturalism and human rights.

Pierini sees a wider clash between two populisms -- one anti-Muslim in Europe, and the other fighting for the Islamization of the secular Turkish Republic -- that risks an uncontrolled downward spiral. Europes leaders, he said, are losing sight of the fundamentals, that you have a counter-revolution going on in Turkey, where Erdogan is trying to reverse the westward course on which Mustafa Kemal Ataturk set the country in 1923.

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Hanging in the balance is a deal struck a year ago, under which Turkey agreed to cooperate in stemming the flow of refugees from Syria. In exchange, the EU provided more than $3 billion in economic aid and pledges both to re-energize Turkeys stalled membership talks and deliver visa-free travel for Turks entering the 26-nation Schengen area, both of which are increasingly politically toxic for EU leaders.

On Monday, Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said Turkey might rethink the deal, while Erdogan has in the past threatened to bus refugees to the Bulgarian and Greek borders. Deputy Prime Minister Nurman Kurtulmus also this week threatened the Netherlands with the possibility of economic sanctions in the future.

The key question is whether we can sever political ties without damaging the economic ones, and I dont think we can,said Atilla Yesilada, Istanbul-based adviser to GlobalSource Partners, an economic consultancy.

In 2016, 60 percent of the goods Turkey exported to the rest of the world went to the EU. Europe also provides at least two-thirds of foreign direct investment in Turkey as well as many of its tourists. Growth was negative in the last reported quarter, and on Wednesday, the government published the worst budget deficit and unemployment figures since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.

Im not saying Erdogan cant do it, but I think its a bluff, said Yesilada. We need to sell our textiles and other goods to Europe, because we arent a resource economy. Turkey just isnt Russia.

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Erdogan and Europe Head for Political Blow-Up They Can't Afford - Bloomberg

New York Times

Hackers Post Pro-Erdogan Messages in Attack on Twitter Accounts New York Times Mr. Erdogan criticized the governments of Germany and the Netherlands, accusing them of Nazi practices, after Turkish politicians were prevented from attending events in those countries. Over the weekend, the Dutch authorities stopped the Turkish ... Hacked Twitter Accounts Post Swastikas, Pro-Erdogan ContentBloomberg Pro-Erdogan supporters hack Twitter accountsDeutsche Welle Hackers Attack High-Profile Twitter Accounts, Post Swastikas And Pro-Erdogan ContentHuffington Post News24 -Telegraph.co.uk -Khaleej Times all 210 news articles »

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Hackers Post Pro-Erdogan Messages in Attack on Twitter Accounts - New York Times

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One rally in Stockholm planned for 12 March was cancelledafter the venue owner cancelled the contract for the event, but the Swedish foreign ministry was quick to point out they had no part in the decision and that it could take place elsewhere.

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Leaders in Erdoans party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), have already staged at least one small rally in the suburbs of Stockholm, with party secretary Mehmet Medhi Eker addressing some three hundred supporters.

The New Europeanreportsthe Scandinavian countrys capitulation in the context of rising support for the populist, anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats. The party has increased their vote share from 5.7 per cent in 2010 to 12.9 per cent in 2014, with opinion polls suggesting they may now have the backing of more than 20 per cent of the electorate.

Erdoan has been escalating a high-level row with the Netherlands in recent days. Over the weekend, the European Union (EU) member state refused to allow Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlt avuolu to attend a rally in Rotterdam and turned back another government minister, Family Minister Fatma Betl Sayan Kaya, who crossed the German border with a fleet of ministerial cars.

The decision prompted the Turkish strongman to promise harsh retaliation anddenigrate the Dutch as fascists and Nazi remnants.

Turkish migrants and dual nationals who support the Moderate Islamist felt compelled to riot in the streets, causing anti-mass migration electoral frontrunner Geert Wilders to broadcast a message saying: You are no Europeans, and you will never be.

An Islamic state like Turkey does not belong to Europe. All the values Europe stands for freedom, democracy, human rights are incompatible with Islam, he said.

Turkey voted for Erdoan, a dangerous Islamist who raises the flag of Islam. We do not want more, but less Islam. So Turkey, stay away from us. You are not welcome here.

Germany and Denmarkhave joined the Netherlands in discouraging the Turkish government from campaigning on their territory withErdoan accusing the former of Nazi practices as a result. Swedens decision marks abreak in European solidarity.

The move has upset Swedens substantial Kurdish population, which has been fighting periodic battles with Turkish migrants on Swedens streets for years.

Kurds have suffered greatly in Turkey since afailed coup attempt by secularists in the Turkish armed forces last year,which Erdoans regime used as an opportunity to crack down on political opponents across the board.

Pro-Kurdish lawmakers from thePeoples Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested en massein November 2016. On 10 March 2017, the United Nations released a report detailing how Turkish military, security, and police forces have subjected thousands of Kurds to summary execution, rape, and torture, and rendered hundreds of thousands homeless by levelling large swathes of their communities.

Source: DigitalGlobe/UNOSAT, via Associated Press

France, like Sweden, has allowed the AKP to campaign on its territory, with Foreign Minister avuolu disparaging the Netherlands as the capital of fascism at a rally in the border city of Metz on 12 March.

The socialist governments permissive stance prompted an indignant response from Marine Le Pen, the populist frontrunner for the first round of Frances upcoming presidential elections.

Why should we tolerate speeches on our soil that other democracies refuse? she asked on social media. No Turkish electoral campaign in France.

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Sweden Submits to Turkish Pressure, Authorises Pro-Erdogan Rallies - Breitbart News

BERLIN Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's push to expand his powers in an April 16 referendum is causing deep divisions in Germany's already fractured three million-strong Turkish community, splitting families and turning friends into enemies.

Emotions are running especially high after German authorities banned several planned rallies by Turkish ministers, citing public security concerns. Erdogan has branded such bans "fascist", infuriating the German government.

"My father is pro-Erdogan. When he turns on the television, I have to leave the room," one 22-year old German man of Turkish descent told Reuters in Berlin, where he is completing a year of voluntary work before starting his university studies.

Many of his friends' families have also been split by the looming referendum, said the man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from ardent pro-Erdogan supporters or a ban on visiting Turkey.

Just down the street in Berlin's multicultural Kreuzberg district, bright red signs proclaiming "Hayir" - 'No' in Turkish - and "No to dictatorship in Turkey" have been ripped from a fence and now lie on the pavement.

Others are shocked by the efforts of German, Dutch and other authorities to prevent Turkish politicians rallying support on European soil for the referendum.

"It's completely right-wing and radical how the Turks are being treated here," said Ergun Gumusalev, another Turkish man, told Reuters in Cologne. "I'm actually opposed to Erdogan, but how can this be? Where are we living? We've been here for 50, 60 years, exploited like pigs ... and here's the thanks we get."

THREATS

Many Turks came to Germany as "Gastarbeiter' (guest workers) in the 1960s and 1970s and contributed to the country's postwar "economic miracle".

But the latest conflict has reignited debate about the integration of Turks in German society, and Chancellor Angela Merkel and other politicians are anxious not to import internal Turkish conflicts into Germany.

Ismail Kupeli, a political science professor at Ruhr-Bochum University, said he expected about 60 percent of the 1.4 million Turks in Germany who are eligible to vote in the referendum to back Erdogan, roughly the same percentage that backed the Turkish leader in the last presidential vote.

"Erdogan is trying to shore up support for the referendum here because polls show a narrow majority is against the measure in Turkey," Kupeli told Reuters.

"People are being told, 'Either you're for the president or you're terrorists ... Either you're for a strong Turkey under Erdogan or a weak Turkey that is under the thumb of the West.'"

Ahmet Daskin, project manager with the Foundation for Dialogue and Education, said his members had recently seen a big increase in hate messages on social media. The foundation is close to Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric accused by Erdogan of orchestrating last summer's failed coup in Turkey.

"It's much worse than it was a few months ago," Daskin said.

The group's leader, Ercan Karakoyun, is currently on a book tour across Germany, but his appearances must be coordinated with local police since he has received over two dozen death threats since the coup, Daskin said.

"Every time Erdogan ratchets up his rhetoric, the threats and harassment increase over here," he added.

A ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday that said companies in the European Union may bar staff from wearing Islamic headscarves or other visible religious symbols could further exacerbate tensions in the Turkish community.

"I think it's discriminatory and unnecessary because my headscarf doesn't limit my ability to work at all," Beyda Kokluce, a Turkish woman in Cologne, told Reuters.

"It will only make the situation worse," said a second woman, Gokalp Cerci. "Every person is free to decide what he wears at work, and setting up general bans for people won't accomplish anything."

(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Reuters TV; Editing by Gareth Jones)

MOSUL, Iraq Iraqi government forces battling Islamic State for Mosul took control of a main bridge over the Tigris river on Wednesday and advanced towards the mosque where the group's leader declared a caliphate in 2014, federal police said.

WASHINGTON The top Republican and Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee both said on Wednesday that sanctions imposed on Russia over its involvement in Ukraine must not be lifted without drastic changes by Russia.

BRUSSELS/VIENNA Turkey has blocked some military training and other work with NATO "partner countries" in an apparent escalation of a diplomatic dispute with EU states, officials and sources said on Wednesday.

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Turkish diaspora in Germany divided by Erdogan's referendum - Reuters