A 31-year-old woman from Rotterdam was arrested with her 5-month-old baby in Istanbul on Friday. The woman and baby are currently detained in a prison in the Turkish capital. She is suspected of belonging to a terrorist organization, RTL Nieuws reports.
The woman was co-chairman of the Kurdish organization DemNed, the Council of Communities from Kurdistan in the Netherlands, from 2015 to 2016. According to the Turkish authorities, this organization is affiliated with the Kurdish PKK.
A Dutch trade mission to Saudi Arabia in December will definitely not happen. Minister Sigrid Kaag of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation will not go to the country because of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday, NU.nl reports.
Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance canceled his planned visit to an investor conference in Saudi Arabia next week, following the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he visited the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The consultancy firm that organized Hoekstra trip confirmed that the Minister is no longer going, ANP reports.
Surveillance camera footage show Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 3rd. There is no footage of him leaving again and he hasn't been seen since. There is still much confusion about what happened to him.
Various Turkish media sources report that Turkey launched an investigation into a Dutch diplomat believed to work in Turkey as a spy.
News station A-Haber and newspapers Aksam and Sabah all published reports on this story on Monday, NOS reports. According to the Turkish media, Dutch man A.Z. is in Turkey on a diplomatic passport.
Saban B., a sex trafficker sentenced to 8 years in prison by a Dutch court, is now running call centers from Turkey which sell dishonest energy contracts to Germans, according to reporters for German newspaper Der Spiegel. People who buy contracts through the call center, have to pay more money than agreed to over the phone, among other things.
Dutch journalist Bram Janssen was released from custody several hours after being arrested in Istanbul on Sunday. The photo journalist for news wire AP was arrested while taking pictures at a pride parade through the Turkish capital, according to RTL correspondent Olaf Koens.
Koens also confirmed that Janssen was released. "I got a message from Bram: 'Yes, I am free. I was treated well', he wrote. So it ended with a sizzle." Janssen filmed police action against the people in the pride parade. He has a Turkish press card, so was allowed to do so, according to the broadcaster.
With Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claiming a narrow victory in a referendum designed to give his office more power, several politicians in the Netherlands expressed disdain for the vote results. Erdogan opponents in Turkey questioned the veracity of the vote count, with Turkish state media claiming that 70 percent of Turkish passport holders in the Netherlands voting to give Erdogan greater authority.
PostNL fired one of its drivers with immediate effect on Monday for a Facebook post in which he praised the bombing in Istanbul, Turkey over the weekend. The Dutch postal service confirmed the dismissal on Facebook and Twitter, following an outraged storm of reactions.
"Too bad there were only 20 deaths, there should have been many more. At least those 29 aren't coming here, great." The man wrote on Facebook
Dutch-Turkish sex trafficker Saban B. will serve seven years and nine months in a Turkish prison. A court in Istanbul ruled against B. in the appeal of this case and found him guilty of human trafficking and participation in a criminal organization, NU.nl reports.
Former Dutch European Parliamentarian Joost Langendijk (GroenLinks) was arrested upon landing at Istanbul airport on Sunday and is currently on a flight back to Amsterdam. The Turkish authorities refused to allow him into his hometown of Istanbul, the Volkskrant reports after a telephone conversation with Langendijk.
The Dutch consulate in Istanbul reopened on Tuesday after being closed for almost a week due to a terrorist threat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs decided to temporarily close and vacate the Dutch consulate in Istanbul due to a possible terrorist threat. He could not comment on the nature of the threat or where the information came from due to "obvious reasons".
Anil Sayar, a 23-year old man from Amsterdam, has been stuck in a Turkish prison for a month after being arrested during Labour Day demonstration on Taksim Square in Istanbul, AD said quoting his sister. She raised the issue at the Dutch Embassy on May 11th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in The Hague on Thursday.
Dutch criminal Sjaak Burger (44), who was shot in the head in Panama in January, is back in the Netherlands. He recently moved in to a Dutch hospital's nursing ward, De Telegraaf reports. He is still badly injured and the prognosis for his potential recovery is unknown.
The court in Istanbul today sentenced Shaban B. to 7 years and 9 months in a Turkish prison for human trafficking and participation in a criminal organization, NU reports. B. has appealed the ruling
The Turkish police have arrested 6 suspects in connection with the assassination of the Dutch-Turkish Ali Akgun, CNN Turkey reports According to CNN, a weapon was also confiscated during raids. It is not yet clear whether this is the murder weapon.
Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink was brought in for questioning by Turkey's terrorism police Tuesday to determine if she is spreading "propaganda for terrorist organization," she said on Twitter. Her house was searched by an eight person terrorism squad.
Istanbul was shocked by another execution on Wednesday. The victim is Vedat Sahin, the brother of top criminal Sedat Sahin - a well known name in the Turkish underworld. Sahin was from Rotterdam and was allegedly good friends with Ali Akgun, who was executed earlier on Wednesday.
Amsterdam PvdA-council member Emre Ünver was in a fight with some Turkish youths on Sunday on the Leidseplein. It happened during a gathering of remembrance for a 15-year old Turkish boy who died last week, het Parool reports.
On Tuesday evening the Dutch soccer team will play a loaded match against the Turkish national team in Istanbul. Turkey has to win in order to become number two in the group and have a possibility to go to Brazil.
While the Netherlands is already a participant at the World Cup in Brazil, Turkey has to win. In their group Romania will play, also on Tuesday, against Estland. So it will be Romania or Turkey who will end as number two in the group.
The Netherlands Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey caught fire today.
