dpa-AFX International ProFeed, Germany

Friday 3:02 PM GMT

 

 

By Anindita Ramaswamy, dpa

ISTANBUL (dpa-AFX) – Turkey and the Netherlands have agreed to normalize ties after a row in 2017, when the Dutch government banned Turkish politicians from campaigning ahead of a controversial referendum. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday that the decision was reached during a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok.

 

The two also agreed to soon reinstate their respective ambassadors in Ankara and The Hague. When they met on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit, the ministers 'discussed the regretful events that took place in March 2017, which resulted in a deterioration of the relations between the Netherlands and Turkey,' the statement said. Turkish politicians were banned from entering the country to conduct election rallies for Turkish expatriates in the Netherlands ahead of a controversial constitutional referendum in Turkey in April. Germany also blocked the events, triggering a backlash from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called European leaders 'Nazis.' Earlier this year, the Dutch parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, in a move condemned by Turkey. Ankara in turn accused the Netherlands of turning a blind eye to the genocide of Muslim Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb troops that took place in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War in 1995. However, Cavusoglu and Blok underlined their link as NATO allies for six decades, their trade ties and their history of more than four centuries, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Blok will visit Turkey in the second half of the year, it added.