15 March 2017•Update: 15 March 2017
By Meltem Ozturk, Coskun Ergul and Huseyin Gazi Kayki
ANKARA
A Turkish-Dutch parliamentary friendship group will be disbanded, the group’s Turkish chairman said Wednesday.
The decision came in the wake of the row over the Netherlands’ block on Turkish ministers campaigning for a Yes vote in Turkey’s April 16 referendum on constitutional change.
Ertugrul Soysal told Anadolu Agency that the group’s board would “resign this week and the friendship group will be abolished.”
Soysal is one of 14 Justice and Development (AK) Party lawmakers in the group who later resigned en masse, according to the party’s deputy parliamentary group chairman, Mustafa Elitas.
“The AK Party's members of Turkey-Netherlands Parliamentary Friendship Group have resigned,” Elitas said. “We will not be in the group until an apology has been made.”
On Saturday, the Dutch authorities blocked Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from holding events in Rotterdam.
Protesting Turkish nationals were dispersed by police using batons, dogs and water cannons.
The friendship group, which also consists of five Turkish opposition members, was established in 2003 to foster inter-parliamentary cooperation through official visits and other contacts.
The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) later said its two lawmakers had also resigned and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said its two members would quit.
Soysal said Turkey would become stronger in the event of a Yes vote to grant the president wide-ranging powers in the referendum.
“Certain countries do not want to see a growing and developing Turkey,” he said.
He noted that the interests of up to 500,000 Turkish nationals in the Netherlands should be considered. “We should take decisions while considering their situation,” Soysal said.
According to the Economy Ministry, trade volume between Turkey and the Netherlands stood at $6.6 billion in 2016. Nearly 3,000 Dutch companies have around $22 billion invested in Turkey.
