Dutch foreign minister to visit Turkey on Wednesday

Istanbul (dpa) - The Netherlands‘ top diplomat will visit Turkey on Wednesday after the countries agreed to normalize ties following a row in 2017 when the Dutch government banned Turkish politicians from campaigning ahead of a controversial referendum.Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok - who was under fire at home a few months ago for saying multi-cultural societies could not live peacefully together - will travel to Ankara and Istanbul on Wednesday and Thursday.In the Turkish capital, Blok will visit the parliament building which was attacked during a coup attempt in July 2016, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.Turkey and the Netherlands appointed ambassadors to each other‘s countries in September, after both sides agreed in July to mend ties.Turkish politicians were banned from entering the Netherlands in March 2017 to hold election rallies for Turkish expatriates eligible to vote in a constitutional referendum in Turkey in April.Germany also blocked the events, triggering a backlash from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called European leaders "Nazis."Earlier this year, the Dutch parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, a move condemned by Turkey.Ankara in turn accused the Netherlands of turning a blind eye to the genocide of Muslim Bosniaks by Bosnian Serb troops that took place in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War in 1995.Turkey has been reaching out to improve relations with European countries against the backdrop of a trade spat with the United States.