Turkish protesters squeeze oranges, drink juice in anti-Dutch protest

Turkey and the Netherlands are going through a period of strained diplomatic relations after two Turkish ministers were barred entry to the northern European country where they planned to attend a political rally.

There has been a diplomatic slinging match, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan labeling the Netherlands a “Banana republic.”

Turkish demonstrators have remained in the fruity vein and were pictured cutting oranges and drinking their juice in protest of the Dutch government on Sunday.

The color orange has long been associated with the Dutch, dating back to William of Orange who was the first king.

In the latest salvo over the Netherlands blocking Turkish government ministers from attending rallies in the country as well as a crackdown on protests by expatriate Turks, Ankara has sent diplomatic notes protesting the incidents, the Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

Turkish government and opposition leaders alike have strongly condemned the incidents Saturday, in which the Dutch government canceled Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu’s flight permit to the Netherlands and then blocked a convoy carrying Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from entering the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam.

When Turkish citizens in the Rotterdam peacefully protested these developments, they were met by police using batons, dogs, and water cannons, in what some called a disproportionate use of force.

Turkey’s first note to the Netherlands decried the mistreatment of Kaya and Turkish diplomats, saying it clearly violated the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, according to the Foreign Ministry Press Office.