Turkish, Dutch PMs clash over lesbians' adoption of Turkish boy
Erdogan objects to adoption by lesbian couple of boy born to Turkish woman
A diplomatic row over a Turkish boy adopted by a Dutch lesbian couple clouded a visit to the Netherlands by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at strengthening ties.
Erdogan met Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte to discuss economic and political co-operation, but the squabble over the fate of nine-year-old Yunus overshadowed the talks.
The issue even threatened to eclipse a historic Kurdish rebel ceasefire announcement in Turkey, after reported attempts by Ankara to reunite Yunus, adopted by the lesbian couple as a baby, with his biological Turkish mother.
Erdogan said non-governmental organisations in the Netherlands should get involved to "ensure that children are placed within a situation they have been used to before", referring to foster children with an Islamic background. He called for the issue to be taken up at ministerial level between Ankara and The Hague.
Rutte immediately shot down the suggestion. "The placing of Dutch foster children is the sole responsibility of the Dutch government, of nobody else," Rutte said after talks with Erdogan earlier in the day which included the fracas around Yunus.
"For this reason I'm against having the issue taken up at a ministerial level," he said.