Erdogan Warns Europeans on Their Safety as Tensions Rise With West<br />In a Twitter post written in English, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, quickly condemned the assault in London, noting<br />that Turkey had "suffered similar attacks many times." Mr. Erdogan’s comments were a response to restrictions placed on his surrogates in European countries including Germany and the Netherlands, where they have been barred from holding political rallies in support of a referendum in which Turks will decide whether to expand their president’s powers.<br />By PATRICK KINGSLEYMARCH 22, 2017<br />KASTAMONU, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey warned Europeans on Wednesday<br />that they would no longer be able to walk safely in the street if Western politicians continued with perceived provocations against Turkish leaders.<br />Western news organizations have been quick to report on these provocations, which are then read and condemned by European leaders — creating a feedback loop<br />that in turn gives Mr. Erdogan more excuses to criticize Europe and to begin the cycle afresh.<br />"Until Erdogan, our leaders were just standing meekly in the outside world." Hopes<br />that the dispute would ease were raised on Tuesday, after Mr. Erdogan’s party canceled plans to send more lawmakers to campaign in Germany.<br />Ankara said that If you go on behaving like that, tomorrow nowhere in the world, none<br />of the Europeans, Westerners will be able to walk in the streets in peace, safely,<br />The tactic appeals to some Turkish voters, including many of those who attended a rally on Wednesday<br />in Kastamonu in northern Turkey, where Mr. Erdogan headed immediately after speaking in Ankara.
