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Netherlands–Turkey relations

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Dutch–Turkish relations
Map indicating locations of Netherlands and Turkey

Netherlands
Turkey
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of the Netherlands, AnkaraEmbassy of Turkey, The Hague
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte receives Turkish President Abdullah Gül at the Binnenhof

Dutch–Turkish relations are the bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Turkey. The diplomatic relations widely encompass and span four centuries, beginning in 1612. The first Turkish representative in the Netherlands started activities in 1859.

Before the Dutch had their own consuls in the Levant, they traded under the French Capitulations of 1569 until they sent Cornelius Haga as a consul to Istanbul in 1611.[1] The States-General was responsible for appointing the consul, but the Levant merchants in these cases were closely consulted. The poor payment system for the consuls disrupted the potential successes of the relationship between consul and merchant community. The merchants requested changing to the Venetian fixed salary payment, but the States-General went against their wishes and tried to find other means of income.[2] This posed problems for the Dutch consuls, and there are many reports of cases where consuls exerted their authority over the nations members who did not want to pay consulate and embassy dues.[3] Despite internal struggle within the Dutch nation, it had a good relationship with the Ottomans and in 1804 Sultan Selim III (1789–1807) appointed the first resident representative to Amsterdam.[4]

Turkeye is a village of Sluis, a municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands. In 1604, Prince Maurits changed the name of the village in Turkeye to thank the Turkish sailors for their support to the Dutch during the battle with the Spaniards in the Dutch War of Independence.

The history of Turkey and the Netherlands stretches back to the 17th century, when the first representative of the States-General was sent to the Sublime Porte. Relations between the two have continued ever since, further cemented by Turkish guest workers in the '60s and '70s, and today by strong economic ties. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. the Netherlands is an EU member and Turkey is an EU candidate. the Netherlands opposes Turkey's accession negotiations to the EU, although negotiations have now been suspended.

Political relations

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Consulate-General of Netherlands in Istanbul
Consulate-General of Netherlands in Istanbul
Embassy of Turkey in The Hague
Embassy of Turkey in The Hague

the Netherlands and Turkey are both members of the Council of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Union for the Mediterranean.

Patriot missile support

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In January 2013, The Netherlands sent two Patriot missile batteries along with troops to help Turkey defend against the missile threat from Syria. [5] This was the third time Dutch Patriot missiles have been deployed in Turkey, after 1991 and 2003, in which they helped against possibile attacks from Iraq. [6]

Yunus Affair

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During a state visit to the Netherlands In March 2013, Prime Minister Erdoğan criticized the placement of the Turkish-Dutch foster child Yunus with lesbian foster parents.[7] Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Lodewijk Asscher considered the involvement of Turkey "totally inappropriate" and called it "presumptuous" when a foreign power expresses an opinion on the policy of Dutch foster care.[8] Erdoğan proposed that the Turkish Ministry of Family Affairs and the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice consult each other about the care of children of Turkish origin, but Prime Minister Mark Rutte rejected this proposal. Rutte said that placement of a child in a foster family always involves trying to match the child's background to that of the foster family. Failing that, the interest of the child comes first, and no distinction is made on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.[9] Erdoğan intended to turn to the European Court of Human Rights to enforce Yunus to be reunited with his biological parents.[10]

Referendum campaign dispute

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Further information: 2017 Dutch–Turkish diplomatic incident

In the wake of the Turkish constitutional referendum, events featuring Turkish Ministers were scheduled to be held in the Netherlands in March 2017 in order to promote the proposed amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. The Dutch Government under Mark Rutte prohibited Turkish Ministers from entering the Netherlands for rallies, stating "We are of the opinion that Dutch public spaces are not the place for political campaigns of other countries".[11] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sharply condemned the decision, calling the Netherlands a "Nazi remnant".[12] Overseas election campaigning, even in diplomatic missions, is illegal under Turkish law; yet most political parties in Turkey including the ruling AKP have flouted the law.[13][14] On 13 March 2017, Deputy Turkish Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş announced the suspension of high-level diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Turkey and barred the Dutch ambassador from returning to Ankara.[15]

The countries normalized the relations and appointed ambassadors in 2018.[16]

Sanctions against Turkey

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Netherlands criticized the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. On 10 October 2019, a large majority of Dutch MPs backed the introduction of sanctions against Turkey.[17][18] the Netherlands imposed an arms embargo on Turkey in 2019 due to Turkey's military operation in northeastern Syria.[19]

Osman Kavala dispute

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In October 2021, in the wake of the appeal for the release of Turkish activist Osman Kavala signed by 10 western countries, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered his foreign minister to declare the Dutch ambassador persona non grata, alongside the other 9 ambassadors.[20] Following a statement by the ambassadors, reiterating their compliance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations regarding the diplomatic duty not to interfere in host states’ internal affairs, President Erdoğan decided to not expel the ambassadors.[21]

Economic relations

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Trade volume between Turkey and the Netherlands has increased remarkably over the years. In 2008, the Netherlands exported for almost 4 billion euros worth of goods to Turkey. This amount is doubled compared to 2000. Turkey exported in the same year 1.6 billion euros worth of goods to the Netherlands, with a share of 32 percent for garments.[22]

Turkey is a very popular holiday destination for Dutch tourists. In 2009, more than 1.1 million Dutch tourists visited Turkey.[23]

As of February 2011, 1894 Dutch companies have invested in Turkey, declared the Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu,[24] making the Netherlands the country with the biggest investment in projects in Turkey.

High level visits

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Guest Host Place of visit Date of visit Reference
Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands 		President Ahmet Necdet Sezer Ankara, Cappadocia, Istanbul and Kayseri 25–28 May 2004 [25]
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende Huis ten Bosch, The Hague 16 June 2004 [26]
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands 		President Ahmet Necdet Sezer Ankara, Istanbul and Kayseri 27 February – 2 March 2007 [27]
President Abdullah Gül Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
Princess Máxima of the Netherlands 		Amsterdam, The Hague 16–19 April 2012
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Prime Minister Mark Rutte Huis ten Bosch, The Hague 21 March 2013 [28]
Foreign Minister Stef Blok Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Ankara and Istanbul 3–4 October 2018
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Foreign Minister Stef Blok The Hague and Amsterdam 10–11 April 2019
Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Ankara 2 September 2021
Prime Minister Mark Rutte President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Ankara 22 March 2022

Resident diplomatic missions

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ De Groot 1978, pp. 88, 97
  2. ^ Steensgaard 1967, pp. 31–33
  3. ^ De Groot 1978, p. 221
  4. ^ Steensgaard 1967, p. 25
  5. ^ Dutch send Patriots to guard Turkey from Syria missile threat
  6. ^ Dutch agree to deploy Patriot missiles on Turkish-Syrian border
  7. ^ Erdogan: Homosexuality contrary to Islam, The Jerusalem Post, 26 March 2013
  8. ^ Bemoeienis Turkije met Yunus ongepast COC 17 March 2013 (in Dutch)
  9. ^ Rutte-en-Erdogan-oneens-over-kwestie-Yunus In: Elsevier 21 March 2013 (in Dutch)
  10. ^ ‘Turkey to take Yunus case to court’: Dutch media quote Turkish paper In: dutchnews.nl 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  11. ^ Sanchez, Raf (11 March 2017). "Sparks between Turkey and Holland as Erdogan calls the Dutch 'Nazi remnants'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  12. ^ Gumrukcu, Tuvan; Escritt, Thomas. "Netherlands bars Turkish ministers as rally dispute escalates". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. ^ Gold, Shabtai; Merey, Can; Say, Linda. "Turkish law prohibits campaigning abroad - as row with Europe deepens". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  14. ^ "Host of 'political' Turkish rally in Austria scraps event after police see 'no legal grounds' to act". Xinhua. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  15. ^ Roberts, Elizabeth (14 March 2017). "Turkey suspends high-level diplomatic relations with Dutch". CNN. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  16. ^ Güldoğan, Diyar (7 August 2018). "Turkey appoints new ambassador to Netherlands". AA. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Dutch MPs call for action against Turkey after offensive, ministers condemn attacks". Dutch News. 10 October 2019.
  18. ^ Ensor, Josie; Allen, Nick (11 October 2019). "Turkey may have targeted US forces with artillery in Syria, coalition source claims". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235.
  19. ^ "Netherlands becomes second NATO ally to suspend arms sales to Turkey over Syria offensive". The New Arab News. 10 October 2019.
  20. ^ "Turkey to declare 10 ambassadors 'persona non grata'". dw.com. 23 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Erdoğan backpedals, says 10 Western envoys can stay in Turkey". POLITICO. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  22. ^ Export naar Turkije licht toegenomen (in Dutch)
  23. ^ Turkije populairst bij Nederlanders (in Dutch)
  24. ^ Sayın Bakanımızın Hollanda Dışişleri Bakanı Uri Rosenthal ile Yaptığı Ortak Basın Toplantısı, 2 Şubat 2011, Ankara (in Turkish)
  25. ^ Prins van Oranje en Prinses Máxima bezoeken Turkije (in Dutch)
  26. ^ Minister-president Erdogan van Turkije bezoekt Nederland (in Dutch)
  27. ^ Programma staatsbezoek aan Turkije, 27 februari - 2 maart 2007 (in Dutch)
  28. ^ Minister-president Erdoğan van Turkije brengt bezoek aan Nederland (in Dutch)
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