It was an interesting coincidence that the diplomatic crisis between Turkey and the Netherlands took place in March 2017, while I, as a Turkish citizen married to a Dutch citizen living in the Netherlands, had already begun to follow an online course on global diplomacy. It was, and still is, a complicated issue between the foreign ministers and also the nationals.
After the Dutch PM Rutte’s government denied the landing of the Turkish FM Cavusoglu’s plane to the Netherlands, who would be visiting to speak at the propaganda meeting for Turkish president Erdogan’s referendum, Erdogan went crazy and called the Dutch “fascists” and “Nazi remnants”, which is beyond the borders of diplomatic communication. Rutte’s government did not accept Cavusoglu’s entry because it was right before the Dutch elections on March 15 and this might have caused Wilders, the ultranationalist party leader, to gain an unprecedented popularity. (But the outcome was not so.) The rejection by the Dutch is debatable in the first place. They had warned the Turkish counterparts before not to come at this time, but they were welcome after the elections, why wouldn’t they be?
Apart from what happened politically, I also followed what the Turkish citizens did in both countries. In Turkey, angry nationalists were protesting in the streets, stabbing oranges and drinking the juice, burning a French flag confusing it with the Dutch, kicking a Norwegian journalist confusing him to be Dutch, replacing the Dutch flag with a Turkish one at the Dutch embassy in Istanbul and calling “Allahu ekber” (god is great) afterwards etc. Xenophobia is an inevitable consequence. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, in addition to many protests in the streets by the Turkish (the Dutch stayed cool, trying to grasp what was happening), there was a particular footage when the following dialogue took place between two Turkish nationals on the Dutch streets:
-“Police may come, let’s be careful.”
-“This is not Turkey.”
I saw this on the Dutch media (in “Zondag met Lubach”, a show where a comedian comments on the weekly events) as a criticism towards the Turkish-Dutch citizens in support of Erdogan, who choose to live in a country where they are free to protest and have freedom of speech, while the case is otherwise in Turkey: no freedom of speech. “Why do they support Erdogan then?” asked Arjen Lubach. Then the issue takes a totally different stance that surpasses the diplomatic crisis and turns into something related to human rights violations in Turkey.
The diplomatic visits of the Dutch are banned in Turkey. Is this a success or failure? Definitely a failure of diplomacy at this point. Finally, Turkey is thinking of cancelling the deal with the EU about the Syrian migrants (3 million migrants are residing in Turkey at the moment). This is an open threat that EU should consider and take action against.
Long story short, this diplomatic crisis shows what kind of greater repercussions it may have to reflect the local political conflicts of a European country to a non-European one. Especially when a large diaspora is living there whose votes will contribute shaping the parliament, unlike the dictatorship of the latter, which will continue to struggle to enhance its power through a referendum. The relations of EU are also endangered. The hot-tempered characteristic of the Turkish politicians and the public also does not help the diplomacy.