IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu reacted to the approach of the Netherlands to Turkish officials in a written statement. Zeytinoğlu criticised the approach of the Dutch authorities and called upon the parties to take the necessary steps in order to tackle the ongoing diplomatic crisis and wished that no further damage would be done to bilateral relations:

“The fact that the Dutch authorities have refused our Minister of Foreign Affairs to hold his meeting and rejected entry of our Minister of Family and Social Policies will constitute a dark page in the history of our bilateral relations. Whereas this issue could have been solved through diplomatic channels, the fact that it raised such unnecessary tension shows that the Dutch authorities have managed this issue inadequately. One should note that the Dutch authorities have adopted such a stance in light of the upcoming general elections which will be held on 15 March 2017 in the Netherlands and as a populist approach to further avert the rise of far right leader Geert Wilders. Instead of showing heroic steps in face of such unfortunate developments, it is of utmost importance to favour diplomatic and legal channels in order to solve the situation appropriately”.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also pointed to the importance of bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Turkey and expressed his wish that the relations would be improved as soon as possible:

“Bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Turkey are going back to 1612 when the Ottoman Empire had sent its first ambassador to the Netherlands. Both countries are members of NATO and the Council of Europe. The Netherlands is home to approximately 400,000 people of Turkish origin. In 2016, Turkey realised imports from the Netherlands of approximately 3 billion dollars and increased its exports there to 3.6 billion dollars. Furthermore, one should note that Dutch firms are among the first in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Turkey with a total share of 15.8%. Indeed, there are currently about 2,500 Dutch firms operating in Turkey and in contrast, there are approximately 23,000 entrepreneurs of Turkish origin in the Netherlands. It is our wish that bilateral relations between two important allies such as the Netherlands and Turkey would be improved as soon as possible”.

Ayhan ZEYTİNOĞLU
IKV Chairman