The two nations fell out last year following the Dutch government’s decision to block visas for Turkish officials campaigning for votes among expats living in the Netherlands in the lead-up to Turkey’s controversial referendum which granted Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers.
The Netherland’s refusal to grant Turkey’s foreign minister permission to land in March 2017 led to a mass rally outside the Dutch consulate in Istanbul, prompting its closure.
The Dutch foreign ministry said: “The Dutch government has decided to officially withdraw the Netherlands’ ambassador in Ankara, who has not had access to Turkey since March 2017.
“As long as the Netherlands has no ambassador to Turkey, the Netherlands will also not issue permission for a new Turkish ambassador to take up duties in the Netherlands.”
The ministry added the message has “just been conveyed to the Turkish charge d’affaires in The Hague” and that “this has brought a pause in the talks with Turkey”.
During the heated diplomatic row last year, Erdogan referred to the Netherlands as “Nazi remnants” and “fascists” in a scathing attack on Amsterdam during a rally in Istanbul.
He also called the Dutch “very nervous and cowardly”.
Following Erdogan’s Nazi remark, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte demanded an apology from Ankara, stating such comments were unacceptable.
Turkey barred the Dutch ambassador from the country in March 2017, with Erdogan stating at the time that the Netherlands must pay for its actions.
The Turkish president said: ”Sooner or later, they will pay for this, but we will rapidly bring the Netherlands to account by diplomatic means. We cannot let this go adrift.”
The move comes as Erdogan has been accused of “paving the way for fascism” over fears he is arming vigilante groups to hunt down people involved in the failed 2016 coup.
The new legislation says all civilians who took part in the suppression of the 2016 coup attempt will be exempt from prosecution.
But critics say the legislation is deliberately vague so any future violence by government supporters could be exempt from justice.
Main opposition CHP Party spokesman Bulent Tezcan said: “The passing of the decree is tantamount to forming an armed organisation with government approval.
“Such a decree could be passed only in militarist, fascist countries, in dictatorships that threaten society with civilian militias. This decree lays the foundation for such groups. It plants a bomb at the heart of society.”
Former interior minister Meral Aksener, now leader of the right-wing opposition The Good Party, said: “The decree could potentially pave the way for a civil war in Turkey.”