Dutch police moved in early Sunday using water cannon and horses to break up protests in Rotterdam which erupted after Dutch authorities barred Turkish ministers from visiting.

After several hours of a calm, but tense demonstration by more than 1,000 people outside the Turkish consulate, AFP correspondents saw the police, some carrying out mounted charges on horseback, begin to forcefully disperse the protestors. The port city's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb was shortly to give a press conference about the day's fast moving events after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was refused permission to address a pro-government rally.