ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey announced a series of political sanctions against the Netherlands on Monday over its refusal to allow two Turkish ministers to campaign there, including halting high-level political discussions between the two countries and closing Turkish air space to Dutch diplomats. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, briefing journalists after the weekly council of ministers meeting, said the sanctions would apply until the Netherlands takes steps "to redress" the actions that Ankara sees as a grave insult. About 400,000 people with ties to Turkey live in the Netherlands, though it's not clear how many are eligible to vote. Erdogan said the two cabinet ministers — Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Family Affairs Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, would ask the European human rights court to weigh in on their treatment. He went on to advise Turks living in Europe not to vote for parties that he described as "enemies of Turkey."

Source: The China Post March 13, 2017 21:33 UTC