turkey joined nato. turks and americans thought shoulder to shoulder during the korean conflict. turkey played an important role during the cold war as the eastern flank of nato. it was based jupiter missiles during the iraq war, turkey walk more than 1 million refugees who were displaced by conflict. unfortunately since the justice and development party ascended with elections in 2002, and erdogan assumed the political position the following year, turkey has increasingly become islamist and anti-american. the nato is not just a security of lines. it's the coalition of countries with shared values. and because erdogan's turkey has become an islamist anti-american human rights, it is now an uncertain ally of nato, an outlier in europe. if nato were being established today, there's no way that turkey would qualify for membership. so these are strong arguments on important arguments any think it's important that we delve into them. i want to get at the origins of or the reasons about erdogan's early popular

secondly, turkey is fighting the islamic state, and the german military uses a base in turkey. to what extent does that make it very difficult for germany to react more strongly? anne: it is something that we have been criticizing, the german rhetoric that was not strong enough or clear enough. to the it is linked massive interest germany has in turkey, but we should also stress it is not a one-sided dependency. there's also the european -- in terms of economic dependence with turkey y from germany of te european union, i think the german government could be stronger and clearer in their message, and not only focus on deniz yucel, who is important, but also on the remaining 150 journalists in jail. -- posesour title post the question, the end of freedom in erdogan's turkey. bulent: it is already over. we don't have any freedom for journalists. we lost our freedom. that is the sad part. even our friends still living in turkey, they d don't have anyny chance. the biggest newspaper in turkey, the previous one i was working storyhey just published aa which the government did not li

turkey has been a nato alley since 1952. we continue to exercise military cooperation in that alliance and in the global coalition to defeat isis. our discussions today reaffirmed that will prevent the resurface of-in previously held terrorist threats on the ground as well as the recruitment of terrorists online. . . we extend our condolences for all those who have been lost and have lost loved ones to terror and we mourn the more than 70 turkish lives lost inside of syria in a brave fight against da'ish. turkey has shown leadership by helping to alleviate the ongoing refugee crisis stemming from the conflict in syria. in four years turkey has accommodated for the 3 million refugees from syria iraq and afghanistan that have done much to provide shelter health care and education. we look to turkey as a key partner for stabilization efforts in areas once held by isis and for ensuring or ngo and u.n. partners to continue to provide humanitarian relief services inside and outside of syria. we commend turkey for a peaceful soluti

turkey is a nato ally. german troops and reconnaissance aircraft are stationed on a military base in turkey in the fight against the islamic state. turkey is a very close ally. so for all of these reasons, the chancellor does not want to escalate the tensions further. on the other hand, we are seeing politicians from across the aisle here saying that angela merkel should take a strong stand and she should clearly state, look, turkish politicians, you are not welcome to campaign here in germany. brent: and all along we have the german domestic intelligence agency saying a couple things. on wednesday they said there has been a sharp rise in turkish stymieing operations in germany, that the head of the -- turkish spying operations in germany, that the head of the intelligence agencies says we are seeing an increase in intelligence efforts by turkey in germany. so how serious is this, especially when we are talking about 2 nato partners? reporter: yeah, well, let me explain what kind of spying was meant here. i

tensions between germany and turkey have escalated. the turkish politicians urge support on the referendum next week in their country. our poll shows 91% of germans oppose the turkish politicians campaigning in turkey. only 6% are in favor. after the cancellation of appearances by turkish politicians in germany at several of the events, the turkish president said on sunday that germany was engaging in knotty practices -- nazi practices. the german government did not rule out appearances by the turkish politicians. but in our poll, 77% of germans say they do not want the country to allow campaigning by turkish politicians, only 19% disagree. overall, eligible voters are more critical of the german government than in the previous month. 44% say they are satisfied with the government, while a slight majority, 55%, say they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. this year's federal election is already looming in germany. it plays a big part in how favorably the top politicians and their work are viewed. martin scholz is losing ground. chan

also of response between turkey and the kurds in turkey. such use those election results of 2002 as a breath of fresh air. >> host: you use that word that seems to be making a resurgence what does that mean blacks. >> the invisible blab of security officials or a bureaucracy or those who have a stake whenever tools are at their disposal and to have the invisible he and. and revealing the reach of the deep state to promise reform with the secular parties who are corrupted and turning to erdogan as the alternative. >> were there early sign of erdogan broader ambitions to transform the apparatus? >> there were early warning signs that were anti-democratic as early as 1998 erdogan beside it a poem in the village has said the drones are the helmet's and the bayonet's the faithful are the soldiers. and went to court for using religion as a tool. so we saw early on the devotion of islam permeating his political approach but questions about his commitment to democracy also surfaced. famously quoted after the 2002 elections to say democracy is like

against turkey. and when you look at all the negative statements about turkey, is reiterating them or disliking all of this comments, and the last arrest has been made on the file opened by bahrar, the former prosecutor, and starting from the very first day we are sharing out of concerns with our u.s. colleagues. and we also shared at all levels and we'll continue to follow closely and we are ready to share any documentation or information we have in had. brunson is not under arrest because of his profession but complains by his own interpreter. he had access to consulate, he had the phone call with the family, with the wife, and any books he wanted, including the holy bible has been all provided, and will continue to be of assistance. prosecutors office is about to complete he indictment. after the indictment is completed we have independent court, and courts will reach to a decision about him. it is not something initiated, by the police and we areles -- we will make a decision as soon as possible.

one is turkey, one is america to extradite the islamic cleric who lived in the states and to turkey accuses of being responsible for the coup attempt last july. earlier this month, the chairman of the intelligence committee said he has seen no evidence that he was directly involved in the coup. chairman and british officials have made similar remarks. i doubt that america is going to extradite him. the second problem has emerged just this week. that is yesterday the deputy general manager of a turkish state owned bank was charged in a u.s. court for separating u.s. thinks it on iran over a long period. this subversion involved hundreds of millions of dollars. the ceo was arrested in turkey in 2015 when police found he was holding 4.5 million dollars in ca and shoeboxes in his house. it seemed to be an open and shut case of corruption, but turkey decided not to prosecute. government critics believe this was because turkey did not want the evidence to become public. however, i think u.s. prosecutors will go ahead on this case and turk is likely to find the deputy general manager's trial extre

how has turkey reacted? town in well, after the the city -- and the city of cologne refused to host politicians, it riled the turkish government, the foreign minister of turkey, who accused germany of trying to undermine turkey and affect the outcome of the coming constitutional referendum because these planned rallies by turkish politicians in germany as well as a rally held by the prime minister of turkey, are seen as a way of drumming up support among 1.4 million turks who are eligible to vote in the upcoming referendum. encouraging them to vote yes. however, many germans and german politicians have been very ,ritical of the referendum seeing it as a way for erdogan to consolidate his autocratic power. erdogan has a lot of support in germany. 60% of the turks voted in the 2014 turkish elections in support of the erdogan. so germany remains an important stop on any campaign trail for members of erdogan's government in turkey, and this is making germans very uncomfortable. erdogan's is clamping down on free

back in turkey, u.s. officials say tillerson met with the wife of an american pastor who has been jailed since september on terrorism charges related to his alleged links to gulen. meanwhile, on april 14, turkey is set to hold a referendum on a constitutional overhaul that would give sweeping powers to president erdogan and extend his presidency to 2029. the measure would enable thehe president to issue dececrees, dedeclare emergency rule, appoit ministers and totop state officials and dissolve , parliament. erdogan became president in 2014 after over serving a decade as prime minister. turkey is also in a dispute with germany and the netherlands over their refusal to allow campaign appearances by turkish officials seeking to raise support for the referendum among turks who live there. nearly 1.5 million turks who live in germany can vote on the measure. erdogan has called the dutch "modern-day nazis" and accused germany's chancellor of islamophobia and harboring terrorists. on several thousand people, sa

turkey will not be harmed by this. turkey will protect its rights. turkey will protect its honour. but i would like to state that some european countries, starting with the netherlands, will be harmed by this. it was nothing good will come out of racism, fascism, anti—immigrant sentiments, 01’ fascism, anti—immigrant sentiments, or marginalising people by categorising them. these are signals ofa categorising them. these are signals of a great destruction in europe. europe may turn into a state of argument, conflict within itself, in several years. let's talk now live to dr aykan erdemir, now a senior fellow at the foundation for defence of democracies in washington, but you were a member of the turkish parliament for four years. i guess the timing here is relevant, isn't it? both sides in some sense playing the domestic audiences? exactly, this does seem to have aligned right for the populace. in the netherlands, their upcoming election is on wednesday, and on turkey there is a crucial referendum on april 16 which could bisto erdogan with executive powers, consolidating his r

turkey is calling out nato alleys in this way. -- nato allies. let'sjust move it away from the row for a second and focus on this referendum. how much power is it going to vest in president erdogan if he wins? nothing short of the biggest political shake—up since nothing short of the biggest political sha ke—up since turkey nothing short of the biggest political shake—up since turkey has had since the foundation of the independent nation in 1923. it would change from a prime ministerial to a presidential republic. he would have vastly enhanced powers. he would be head of the executive as well as head of the executive as well as head of the executive as well as head of state. he would be able to elect laws by decree, pointjudges, prepare the budget and it would give him much bigger powers. he says that parliament would have greater oversight of the president and would be able to answer more to the parliament but this is very much the climax of his career. he is going guns blazing for this referendum and this whole campaign with europe is des

that is turkey. the united states and turkey are split over how to defeat the so-called islamic state. it is perhaps the biggest challenge. reporter: rex tillerson will meet at a time when relations between the two nato allies could be better. still, the top diplomat insisted on highlighting the importance of the relationship describing turkey as a trusted ally and thinking ankara for the efforts in the fight against the so-called islamic state. >> troops have permanently pushed isis off the turkey syria border. and the united states is grateful for turkey's important contributions as a member of the counter isis coalition. reporter: the two countries are at odds over u.s. backing. turkey views the syrian people's the texan units as a terror group. the u.s. government doesn't see the difference between the syrian kurdish mission and the pkk. the pkk is on the list of terrorist groups and we have witnessed a collaboration with the ypg in syria in the past. the policy of supporting ypg began during the

another downgrade for turkey. this time cutting its output to negative because of political uncertainty. success, iion for would be told us about plans to issue bonds to fund acquisitions. healthy earnings report. says its, saudi arabia ratings cut was not a surprise trade we spoke to the global head of the rating agency. here is what he said. >> primary reason is the impact on public finances, even though oil prices have started to come up again. when we look at a fiscal balance of last year there was a deficit . an enormous fiscal challenge in dealing with lower oil prices. the government has a plan to address that, we think the deficit will be lower this year, less than 10% of gdp. this used to be a country with a government that of zero, now it is rising with the deterioration of oil prices. the eloquent from stable from -- to negative, right? >> now it is stabilized. >> to discuss downslope on the reform agenda you are talking about, cutting state subsidies, state spending, or does it, does that plan help app

and this was turkey's retaliation. until the netherlands make good on the matters we have stated, the dutch ambassador to turkey, who is on leave outside oui’ to turkey, who is on leave outside our country at the moment, will be banned from entry, meaning he won't be allowed to return. secondly, it was decided that until the netherlands somehow compensates for what it has done, high—level relations and planned meetings for ministers and above will be put on hold. and, once again, president erdogan was on the attack, criticising eu leaders who he said couldn't come to terms with turkey's rise. so how has this row between two nato allies escalated? three eu countries have now banned turkey from holding rallies, rally is designed to drum up support among turkish expats, ahead of a referendum on expanding presidential powers. 0n referendum on expanding presidential powers. on saturday, the dutch government barred two turkish officials from addressing crowds in rotterdam. angry protests by pro— turkish demonstrators f

turkey and the netherlands are locked in a furious diplomatic row after turkey's president erdogan described the dutch as nazi remnants and fascists. the dutch prime minister said mr erdogan‘s remarks were crazy. the row worsened after the dutch government prevented two turkish ministers from addressing a rally in rotterdam and turkey's foreign minister was stopped from travelling there. we have two reports, the first from our correspondent mark lowen in istanbul. they love his nationalism, his bluntness, his standing up to the west, and today, recep tayyip erdogan doled it out. after his foreign minister was blocked from landing in the netherlands, president erdogan hit back at the dutch, his diplomacy typically undiplomatic. translation: they don't know anything about politics or international diplomacy. they are very nervous, and cowards. they are nazi remnants, they are fascists. the foreign minister had wanted to rally turkish voters in the netherlands before a referendum on boosting mr erdogan‘s powers. but, with the dutch election next week, the government there feared it could pr

how did this go down in turkey? >> well, people would say, what happened, what played out in the netherlands on saturday defied diplomatic protocols, whether it was the prime minister -- the foreign minister not allowed to land there or, as we saw, the minister of family affairs pretty much being es skorted out of the country, many here would consider this as huge insult for high ranking officials from this country. initially, we did see some protests taking place here in instanbul outside the consulate general and also the netherlands with a few hundred protesters there. but since then, these protests seem to have died down but that war of words seem to continue on sunday escalating with, as we heard, high-ranking officials, includi including the president accusing the netherlands in this case, fascist and nazzi type behavior and saying they will pay the price. >> about the war of words, the president there has not pulled his punches. to call them fascist and nazis. is that the heat of the turkish referendum campai

that's right, turkey is a key u.s.-nato ally, it's inconceivable to think the united states would be able to fight isis without some turkish cooperation. for example the united states uses an air base in turkey to launch a lot of bombing runs, that's done with turkish permission. a lot of frayed nerves have taken place over the last year simply because of a number of events that have unfolded. the united states has chose to partner with kurdish groups in syria as they begin pinch and isolate isis in the de facto capital city of raqqah, that could take place in a few weeks and turkey is opposed to the kurdish groups saying they are terrorist groups that have launched attacks in turkey. he is trying to get american buy-in to fight isis and somehow being okay with turkish groups being part. >> he will be dealing with him for a long time. >> reporter: it could be a historic referendum, it would leave the turkish president to stay in power an add additional 14 years, which means almost 30 years when you add it all up. so fo

turkey needs germanynd the eu o. but the question of proportionality and rule of law is fundamental of this relations. reporter: opposition members are saying erdogan is holding merkel over a barrel with a refugee deal, and it's high time she asserted herself and put real pressure on ankara. anchor: just hours before delivering his first address to congress, u.s. president donald trump has blamed his predecessor, barack obama, for leaks and protests against the new government. trump told fox news that he suspected top obama administration officials could be behind the leaks. he says they are endangering national security as a result. he also talked about boosting the military, saying countries receiving support from u.s. forces should offer reimbursement. pres. trump: we are treated very unfairly. when we help them even militarily, we are going to ask for a form of reimbursement which right now -- we have countries where we are taking care of the military, we are not being reimbursed, and they are wealthy countries.

not saying everything that happens in turkey is perfect. what i'm saying is turkey has gone through a different get -- difficult time. existentialwith threat in terms of terror. the democracy survived of violent coup attempt. look below the surface, i don't think we can understand each other. >> with the passage of the referendum, which gives the president more power, help these things? or make them worse? the president himself has referred to the dutch as nazis, even though the dutch were the victims of nazis. >> i hope, the outcome from the referendum, could serve as a catalyst. a closure to put behind this difficult episode. the system problems will be settled. i don't think the new constitution gives president new powers beyond what he already exercises in the form of government. what we are doing is this. we consolidating essentially the powers of prime minister and theident in one hand, executive branch like everywhere else. the turkish presidential system is really no fundamentally different than the u.s., what they have been practic

tonight, tensions between germany and turkey hit a new high. turkey's justice minister scraps a visit to germany after several german towns decided no turkish political rallies in our backyard. the turkish government wanted to rally turks in germany to support a referendum, giving the turkish president more power. also coming up, she tweeted a bit too much. france's far right presidential candidate marine le pen is stripped of her immunity from prosecution. the nationalist leader now faces an investigation over images she tweeted of violence by so-called islamic state. and president trump backs his attorney general. there have been calls for jeff sessions to resign after it appears he had not been truthful about his contacts with the russian ambassador during last year's election. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. it is good to have you with us. what started out as small-town politics has become an international diplomatic incident between germany and turkey. today, the turkish justice minister canceled a meeting with his german counterpart and flew h

voting inside turkey begins next month. the major political parties in northern ireland will get several more weeks to reach a new power-sharing deal. the british government extended today's deadline after negotiators failed to get an agreement over the weekend. northern ireland's catholic- protestant unity government collapsed in january. the alternative would be returning the province to direct rule by london. in australia, a cyclone began blasting its way onshore early tuesday, with winds of 140 miles-an-hour. the target was the northeastern state of queensland, where the eye of the storm was due to make landfall within hours. people packed sandbags ahead of the storm. and, up to 30,000 people were urged to evacuate the coastal region. and, historian, journalist and civil rights activist roger wilkins died sunday, after suffering dementia. wilkins held a top civil rights post in the johnson administration during the 1960's. he went on to write editorials for "the washington post" during the watergate scandal. and for yea

a bad outlook.n turkey, turkey is getting downgraded, how suspected was at this. the three rating agencies downgraded last year. >> we all know the referendum is coming up. everyone is quite nervous about it. it is not unexpected. nothing they said was a surprise. this is in line with what rating agencies do. one thing that surprises me is the reaction in the market. look at turkish government the bond spreads compared to u.s. treasuries, they have been trending down. we have seen a rally in turkish stocks that are getting close to a record since 2013. why is there is a discrepancy between the rating and what investors see? anthis is all going on in em rally. faltering,has been turkey has been benefiting from that. a lot of people have been living with these risk for a long time. people do develop thick skin. tracey: we're going to be talking more about that in one second but first turkey deputy prime minister has those of the netherlands actions during a diplomatic dispute defy logic. relations between the countries have been restrained after turkey arrested a du

turkey the dutch go to the polls first on wednesday. it's been a tense campaign, dominated by the anti—immigration freedom party of geert wilders. dominated by the anti—immigration he blames the prime minister for allowing immigrants in, and is set to make big gains. for allowing immigrants in, it's unclear how the weekend violence and the extraordinary diplomatic crisis with turkey will influence dutch voters, making big choices against a background of rising populism across europe. james robbins, bbc news. of rising populism across europe. the intelligence services are to provide the political parties with advice on protecting themselves against russian hackers. the advice will come from experts at gchq's national cyber security centre. from experts at gchq's several politicians have been calling for more assistance, saying they fear that hackers might try to influence future elections. rail workers in three parts of the country go on strike tomorrow, as the dispute that's caused months of chaos for southern rail commuters spreads

over 100,000 people have beenpurged from turkey's military, courts, universities, and civilservice in the government crackdown after last july'sfailed coup. failed coup. so fearful are the officers andtheir families of what may happen if they return to turkey,many have applied for asylum in belgium. on strict conditions ofanonymity, a few spoke with or reporter about their plight.reporter: these two women and their families have lostvirtually everything. a few months ago, their husbandswere well-paid, well-respected military officers representingturkey at nato headquarters in brussels.now, they are in hiding from that government, accused ofbeing terrorists. we have to disguise theiridentities because they fer retaliation. >>i never imagined that couldhappen to us. we have even told our childrennot to speak turkish in public anymore.reporter: a couple months after the failed military coup, theywere ordered to return to turkey, accused of having linksto those who tried to overthrow president recep tayyip erdogan. >>of course, it was shocking.i got angry. at first we wanted to go back to

turkey has been trying to recover relations with russia but turkey's relations with russia but turkey's relations with russia but turkey's relations with the west, with eu countries, with syria, iran, i can go on and on. so all these have been damaging the turkish economy very badly, economy is not doing well. so it is about the next five weeks, erdogan needs five weeks to bring his voters back to the ballot box, andi his voters back to the ballot box, and i don't think there is anything that he wouldn't do to bring his voters to the ballot box. so that is a one point, one angle that really worries the observers, that i think nobody knows how erdogan can stop at this point. and, for more on this diplomatic spat, and what is behind it, you can go to our website at bbc.com/news. at least a0 people are reported to have been killed in twin bomb attacks in the heart of the syrian capital, damascus. the bombs targeted buses carrying iraqi pilgrims to the city's ancient cemetery, which houses shia muslim mausoleums. 0ur correspondent richard conway is at the scene. this is the largest attack t

turkey's own general election law explicitly bans political campaigning abroad, so why is turkey so upset by what has happened this weekend? actually that law was quite old. after that law we passed a lot of new laws which provides for turkish politicians to campaign abroad. as a matter of fact, we did campaign in august 2014 for the presidential elections throughout europe. we did campaignfor elections throughout europe. we did campaign for parliamentary elections onjune campaign for parliamentary elections on june the 7th, campaign for parliamentary elections onjune the 7th, and then the renewed elections on october the 1st. there were no problems. this time around, many european countries including the netherlands, as we saw what they did last night was inhumane, undiplomatic and unlawful. many european countries this time are trying to block members of the governing party of turkey from campaigning. but they are ok with the opposition. that is definitely interfering in our domestic politics. why do you think they are doing that, what's their motive, if it's not just doing that, what's

the principal at the heart of the eu — turkey deal is that turkey, just over the water, is a safe place for refugees and other migrants to return to. the syrians in particular dispute that and say that turkey is not safe for them. a greek court is due to rule on this soon. much will depend on the outcome for the migrants stuck on it islands. clarity is badly needed. as the philippines marks earth hour, star wars fa ns as the philippines marks earth hour, starwars fans in as the philippines marks earth hour, star wars fans in manila engaged in an historic fight to save the earth. around 60 people from philippine lightsaber guild marched and held lightsaber duels to urge filipinos to be heroes for the environment. one of the event's organiser stressed on the importance of its message. don't forget you can get in touch with me on twitter. good morning. it was a lovely start to the weekend and there is more sunshine to come on sunday. these we i’e sunshine to come on sunday. these were saturday's blue skies, taken by a weather watcher in aberdeenshire. here, the temperature rose to 19.1 c

there are crowds in a lot of cities in turkey. he may be thinking that again he finally started to find some sort of argument to push his crowds outside. but at the same time the turkish economy is not doing well, turkey has a lot of problems with foreign policy is in syria, europe and the us. it remains to be seen how successful he is, and we will see in five weeks at the referendum i believe. we must leave in there. thank you very much indeed. thank you. a female judge has been criticised after warning women who get drunk that they are putting themselves in danger of being targeted by rapists. lindsay kushner qc said what she called disinhibited behaviour could put women at risk. her comments have been described by the campaigners as outrageous and misguided. frankie mccamley reports. jailed for six years, for what police described as a horrifically prolonged attack, ricardo rodriguez was found guilty of raping a woman who had been on a night out in manchester. but, sentencing, judge lindsey kushner used her final words before r

then they sent turkey -- turkey sent a second minister and we denied her access that led to a huge spat in which erdogan made the mistake to call us nazi remnants. and then, all of europe suddenly came to the aid and help of this lonely prime minister who took it on for the dutch to say if you want to speak in my country, you have to play by our rules. you cannot stonewall your way through your referendum. those are my rules. that led to -- it gave him a platform to be prime minister, to be statesmanlike, and he did it. dan: also to be populist and tough on security. >> everything geert wilders has been saying with more edge and nastiness, he was able to say these things in the last week. that always matters in the last week what happens. he was able to be the statesman. people said he can do it. he wins the election. dan: walter, if you are today angela merkel or macron in france trying to figure out how to navigate your own elections in germany and france over the next few months, you look at the outcome in the netherlands and think what? >> you think different things depending on whe

a reason that turkey rejects. it is the latest in a series of public outcries by turkish leaders against the german government. we want to bring in our political score of -- clinical correspondent. -- bring in our political correspondent. the turkish foreign minister spoke despite the cancellation of the rally. what more did he have to say? guest: he said germany, do not give turkey a lesson in democracy and human rights. he went on and gave germany a lesson in democracy, saying germany should not meddle with turkish politics. referring to n by german local authorities to cancel several rallies by turkish ministers who were here to rally votes for the controversial april referendum. this entire speech was pretty much a frontal attack and provocation against the german government. it does make you wonder in a way , why the foreign minister actually used this stage at the turkish consulate in turkish soil in hamburg if you wanted to really rally votes for that referendum here in germany, or if he was trying to fire

again i say the focus is probably going to be on turkey because turkey is the country that on the one hand is sort of trashing european values, you know, locking of journalists. and yet, europe is dependent on this guy to protect its frontier from migrants. this is a really difficult problem, and i think it will consume the german government. and it will be a problem for the opposition because in a sense, both approaches are sort of intolerable if you say you are serious about european values. you cannot just turn your back on starving, endangered refugees. on the other hand, you cannot embrace an authoritarian dictator. it is a real mess. >> immigration is a shared fear and policy question across all of these countries. and the u.s. has been at the center. dan: how big is the muslim population in the netherlands? >> i think one million. 400,000 turks. >> 65 million people around the world are displaced either within their own country or out of the country. 65 million. it is an enormous problem. >> the largest number since world war ii. >> it is an enormous crisis. dan: there is no qu

turkey to have the door slammed in their face but turkey to have the door slammed in theirface but on turkey to have the door slammed in their face but on the other, it provides president urdu and with border, as i say, for his support base. —— president urdu one. he knows how this works, he is a canny political operator and he knows what the domestic support base wants and the domestic support base wants and the other side of the country is horrified at what is happening and seesit horrified at what is happening and sees it clearly as reiterating the fa ct sees it clearly as reiterating the fact that turkey is drifting ever further from europe. but fact that turkey is drifting ever furtherfrom europe. but if president urdu gang can get the 51% needed for this referendum, then thatis needed for this referendum, then that is all he cares about at the moment. thank you forjoining us. political parties in britain have been warned to protect themselves against potential cyber attacks, following allegations that russian hackers tried to influence last year's us presidential election. t

so is the turkey's minister a terrorist. of course, we will not target to netherland's people when we take steps. our target is the dutch government. this is not an attitude to me. this behavior is aimed at turkey's foreign minister. >> let's talk about this right now with netherland's based freelance journalist, robert chessle. >> robert, let's back up and talk about the genesis of this. this protest in rotterdam, who was holding it and what was it to bb? >> what we discovered late last night is that it was orchestrated by the consul general of turkey in the netherlands at the rotterdam consulate. he and others were calling on turkish/dutch people to come to the consulate to hold a demonstration as a show of force. basically, this is an example of election time grandstanding, let's say, polling time grandstanding. turkey has a big referendum coming up next month that's going to give a lot more power to president erdogan. they are trying to get turkish people campaigning and rallying to get them to vote to give erdogan more

the principal at the heart of the eu—turkey deal is that turkey, just over the water, is a safe place for refugees and other migrants to return to. now, the syrians in particular dispute that and say that turkey is not safe for them. a greek court is due to rule on this soon. much will depend on the outcome. for the migrants stuck on the islands, clarity is badly needed. pauladams, bbc news, chios. now, lights have been going out around the globe for earth hour. landmarks like the brandenburg gate in germany were plunged into darkness for 60 minutes to draw attention to climate change. people in berlin pedalling bicycles to generate electricity for some late night musical entertainment. in russia more than 1,000 buildings, including the kremlin, took part in the international event. campaigners gathered by candlelight in moscow's red square to mark the tenth annual earth hour. while in the philippines, star wars fans duelled with lightsabers along manila's darkened business district. millions of people from some 170 countries are expected to take part in the symbolic gesture to save e

a few weeks before turkey hold a referendum on its president's powers. the animosity has increased since the dutch government expelled the visiting turkish minister. turkey is demanding an investigation into what it says is police misconduct after dogs and tear gas were used to disperse a crowd who gathered to protest outside the consulate in rotterdam. the turkish president has described the netherlands as a banana republic and urged international sanctions against its government. turkey's referendum is about turning the country from a parliamentary to a presidential republic. if successful, president erdogan would have greater powers. 5.5 million turks live outside the country, and president erdogan wanted to hold rallies across europe to get their votes. the netherlands is not alone in its approach. germany and austria have also banned rallies, citing security concerns amid fears of unrest. a short time ago i discussed it all with the director of the turkish research program at the washington institute. why has it become so heated, this question of wh

turkey will not be harmed by this. turkey will protect its rights. turkey will protect its honour. but i would like to state that some european countries, starting with the netherlands, will be harmed by this, because nothing good will come out of racism, fascism, anti—immigrant sentiments, or marginalising people by categorising them. these are signals of a great destruction in europe. europe may turn into a state of argument, conflict within itself, in several years. earlier i spoke to ilhan tanir a turkey analyst and managing editor of the washington hatti. it is all about the words. as we know, there are five weeks to the referendum in turkey. it is a very important one for president erdogan — after 15 years, president erdogan really needs to win this otherwise it is going to be a failure and embolden the opposition. there is also an election in holland and look at the sanctions that the turkish administration is holding, there is not a lot there. turkey is not going for economic sanctions because everybody knows that the turkish military really needs technology from the ne

but turkey's complained, "in germany we see many politicians and the press are very harsh and very anti—turkey, and we even see islamophobic sentiment." one of the reasons for this tension is because of a referendum that's taking place in turkey in april. president erdogan wants a constitutional change that would radically enhance his powers. here's jenny hill to explain why that's affected the relationship with germany. turkish voices in the heart of germany. 3 million turks live here, in effect it is turkey‘s fourth largest electoral district. so the president needs their support if he is to change the constitution and extend his powers. not everyone will dance to his tune. translation: erdogan is provocative and desert to strengthen national sentiment in turkey. he wants the turkish people to believe it is the western powers against turkey. translation: actually there is huge opposition to the erdogan regime in the turkish community here, but there is nearly no cove rage community here, but there is nearly no coverage in the media about it, so no coverage in the media about it, so germans

the dutch election has been upended by a diplomatic standoff with turkey. the president spoke out in rotterdam on saturday night after the turkish affairs minister was denied entry into her consulate and escorted to the border of germany. now a spiral of increasingly hostile rhetoric between the countries threatens to overshadow the final stretch of campaigning and influence voting 48 hours before the first of europe's big elections this year. republican and democratic lawmakers in the u.s. say they still haven't seen evidence to support donald trump's unverified claim his predecessor tapped his phone. senator john mccain called on the president to provide proof of his allegations about barack obama or admit he was wrong. meanwhile, representative alan shift says he didn't see any evidence, and suggested that none existed. anda's stock futures currency forwards jumped after prime minister narendra modi is bigger than expected win expected continuations for his reform agenda. he won 312 seats in the assembly, up from 47 and 2012. the results of the race in i

secretary of state's visit to turkey. he is in brussels for the nato meeting, but ahead of that -- or i should say prior to that, he was in turkey. allison: that was the highest level state visit between the two countries since the election of president trump. you can see the hand-check -- handshake along with turkey's new hope for energy and u.s. ties. turkey has been hoping the trump administration would bring new energy onto issues in particular, one is the u.s. alliance with kurdish troops in syria, who turkey says as part of a terrorist group, so they want that alliance to stop. the other is the extradition of , and thesh cleric paper said he beat around the bush during his press conference , and they give us analysis from a turkish academic who says the current administration has come into power but has not become competence, meaning they do not completely reflect their own policies. in the u.s., "the washington post" says tillerson was working hard on his visit to appease turkey, described as a frustrated ally, but