Is Europe Safe? Grim Warning Given By Turkish President Erdogan After Germany, Netherlands Quarrel

The president of Turkey gave Europeans an ominous warning Wednesday: Europe may soon be a much more dangerous place. President Tayyip Erdogan's comments came after a week of Turkey's involvement in a public diplomatic spat with the Netherlands and Germany.

"If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets. We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy," said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at event for local journalists in Ankara.

Read: Turkey Threatens To Send '15K Refugees A Month' To Germany And Netherlands

Erdogan was referring to an incident in which the Dutch government wouldn’t allow a Turkish foreign minister to land in the Netherlands. The official was supposed to campaign in Rotterdam — which has a large Turkish expatriate population — for the Turkish Constitutional Referendum, scheduled for April 16. The referendum will allow voters to decide whether to amend the Constitution on several counts, including giving more power to Erdogan.

Under the proposed measures, the president would become the head of the executive, as well as the head of state; be the sole person to announce a state of emergency and dismiss parliament; be given powers to appoint ministers, prepare the budget, choose senior judges and execute certain laws by decree.

Read: Is Turkey Safe? Dutch Warn Citizens Over Turkey Travel Amid Erdogan Nazi Comments

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister who was turned away in the Netherlands, was not pleased with the snub.

“I thought Nazism was over, but I was wrong. In fact, Nazism is alive in the West,” he said when he returned to Turkey.

Nonetheless, Germany came to the Netherlands’ defense. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Netherlands had Germany’s “full support and solidarity” and criticized Turkey for using Nazi parallels, which she said were “completely unacceptable.”

New German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave Erdogan his own warning in his inaugural speech Wednesday morning.

"The way we look (at Turkey) is characterized by worry, that everything that has been built up over years and decades is collapsing," Steinmeier said. "President Erdogan, you are jeopardizing everything that you, with others, have built.”

Erdogan has been accused of attempting to expand his power to an extent that violates democratic principles. After a failed coup d’etat meant to oust the president last July, Erdogan has enacted widespread purges in Turkey. Over 100,000 public officials suspected of being political opponents have been fired since the coup, and somewhere around 41,000 people have been arrested.