Netherlands: Why the Turks are so easily insulted
Turkey is offended by the Dutch authorities' findings that technical problems and pilot error caused the plane crash at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, said Marc Guillet and Axel Veldhuijzen in Algemeen Dagbla
Marc Guillet and Axel Veldhuijzen
Algemeen Dagblad
The Dutch have apparently offended Turkey, said Marc Guillet and Axel Veldhuijzen. Dutch authorities investigating last week’s deadly crash of a Turkish Airlines flight trying to land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport blamed a technical problem with the plane, compounded by pilot error. Nine people died in the accident. Turkey is taking these findings as a national insult. “Everyone’s guilty except the Dutch,” declared a headline in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. Such a reaction is typical of Turkey, a “much more nationalist country” than the Netherlands. For a Turkish pilot to make an error resulting in a fatal crash “is a national disgrace.” That’s why Turkey continues to insist that Dutch air traffic controllers must have erred in guiding the plane. Perhaps we should have expected this defensiveness. Back in 2005, when the Netherlands—along with France, Switzerland, and Germany—refused to let Turkish airline Onur Air use its airports because of the airline’s poor safety record, Turkey called the ban “a European conspiracy against Turkey.” What a shame that this latest accident is becoming the subject of another “unpleasant shouting match” between our two countries.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
El Palace Barcelona: old-world luxury in the heart of the city
The Week Recommends This historic hotel is set within a former Ritz outpost moments from the Passeig de Gràcia
-
The best history books to read in 2025
The Week Recommends These fascinating deep-dives are perfect for history buffs
-
July 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include the danger of talking politics at a family picnic, and disappearing Medicaid entitlements