THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday slammed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he said the Dutch “character” was “broken” over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
“He (Erdogan) continues to escalate the situation,” Rutte told Dutch news TV channel RTL Nieuws, adding “it’s a repugnant historical falsehood,” as a diplomatic row between The Hague and Ankara reached a new low point.
Speaking in Ankara, Erdogan touched a raw nerve with the Dutch when he recalled the mid-1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, where lightly-armed Dutch peacekeepers were overrun by Bosnian Serb forces and failed to protect Muslim refugees.
Almost 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were then massacred and their bodies thrown in mass graves in the biggest incident of bloodshed on European soil since World War II.
The incident caused the Dutch government’s resignation in 2002 after it finally admitted that it could have done more — and the incident remains a source of national soul-searching to this day.
“The Netherlands and the Dutch, we know them from the Srebrenica massacre. We know how much their morality, their character is broken from the 8,000 Bosnians that were massacred,” Erdogan said.
“We know this well. No one should give us a lesson in civilization,” he added.
But Dutch premier Mark Rutte hit back saying: “Erdogan’s tone is getting more and more hysterical, not only against The Netherlands, but also against Germany.”
“We won’t sink to that level and now we’re being confronted with an idiotic fact,” Rutte said.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” he said.
Turkey on Monday suspended top level talks with The Netherlands in a spiralling spat with The Hague and the EU after Turkish ministers were blocked from staging rallies to court the votes of expatriate Turks in a referendum to give Erdogan greater powers.
Ankara was especially angered by the acts of the Dutch days ahead of general elections in the country when authorities prevented the foreign minister’s plane from landing and expelled the family minister over the weekend.
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Dutch PM says Erdogan massacre claim ‘historical falsehood’
Dutch PM says Erdogan massacre claim ‘historical falsehood’
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UK to deploy aircraft carrier group to Arctic this year: PM
- The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship
MUNICH, Germany: The UK will deploy its aircraft carrier group to the North Atlantic this year in a “powerful show of force” against Russian threats in the Arctic, British officials said Saturday.
“I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include Royal Navy warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed “Operation Firecrest,” the ministry of defense said in a statement.
It will be a “powerful show of force … to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.”
The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from all three services of the Armed Forces, the MoD statement added.
“The deployment will include activity under NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance’s security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity,” the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be “ready to fight.”
Leaders must not dither as “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression,” he said.
“The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he added.
“We must be able to deter aggression, and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
The defense ministry said the deployment would reinforce “NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region.”
It added that “over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters.”
US President Donald Trump has also unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Trump said last month however that an understanding had been reached with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte that would give the United States greater influence in the mineral-rich and strategically placed territory.
“I can announce today that the UK will deploy our carrier strike group to the North Atlantic and the High North this year, led by HMS Prince of Wales, operating alongside the US, Canada and other NATO allies in a powerful show of our commitment to Euro-Atlantic security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the Munich security conference.
The group will include Royal Navy warships, F-35 jets and helicopters in what has been dubbed “Operation Firecrest,” the ministry of defense said in a statement.
It will be a “powerful show of force … to deter Russian aggression and protect vital undersea infrastructure.”
The HMS Prince of Wales is the Royal Navy’s largest warship and US aircraft are also expected to operate from its deck.
The operation will involve thousands of personnel from all three services of the Armed Forces, the MoD statement added.
“The deployment will include activity under NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, launched this week, strengthening the Alliance’s security in a region where melting sea ice is opening new routes and increasing threat from hostile state activity,” the ministry said.
France has also announced that it will deploy its aircraft carrier group in the region in 2026.
Starmer told the Munich conference that Britain must be “ready to fight.”
Leaders must not dither as “Russia has proved its appetite for aggression,” he said.
“The road ahead is straight and it is clear. We must build our hard power, because that is the currency of the age,” he added.
“We must be able to deter aggression, and, yes, if necessary, we must be ready to fight.”
The defense ministry said the deployment would reinforce “NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region.”
It added that “over the past two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in Russian navy vessels threatening UK waters.”
US President Donald Trump has also unnerved European countries by saying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic, should come under US control.
Trump said last month however that an understanding had been reached with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte that would give the United States greater influence in the mineral-rich and strategically placed territory.
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