The Dutch cabinet on Friday declared that Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş was not welcome to travel to the Netherlands for a ceremony among Turkish expatriates commemorating last year's failed coup.
"The coup attempt was an unjustified attack on the Turkish state, but when we look at the current relationship between the two countries, we would not welcome the arrival of" Türkeş or another minister, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Türkeş was scheduled to attend an event marking the anniversary of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt on next Tuesday organized by the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) in the city of Apeldoorn.
The statement added, however, that the Dutch government is willing to mend relations, adding: "We are ready to meet with Turkish officials about this. "Shortly before the Dutch national elections in March in which anti-immigrant sentiment was a major theme, the cabinet declared Turkish ministers attempting to travel to the Netherlands to campaign among expatriates for the April 16 constitutional reform in Turkey to be unwelcome.
Responding to the Dutch move, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Turkish citizens abroad are organizing events to mark July 15"independent of our bilateral relations" with the countries they are in.
"The declaration made by the Netherlands is exemplary in that it shows the state of democracy in the country," the statement added.
Dutch officials canceled permission for Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's flight and deported Family and Social Affairs Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, who hoped to address Turkish citizens in the country before the referendum, justifying their actions by citing security issues and concerns for public safety.
Friday's decision is a "natural consequence" of the events in March, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Germany banned a commemoration event for the July 15 coup attempt that was scheduled for July 10 in Hamburg, the Germany-based Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) said.
Mustafa Bahtiyar, the UETD head for Hamburg, said in a statement that they had to cancel the event after German officials forced the personnel of the city hall where the event was planned to take place to cancel the contract with the union.
Bahtiyar said they could not find another location in Hamburg due to the same reason, and the program will now be held in another city.
The Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), an organization led by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, sought to topple the Turkish government and seize power on July 15, 2016. Loyal soldiers, as well as police units and millions of citizens stopped the coup attempt. Some 246 people, mainly civilians, were killed and more than 2,000 were injured.