The Dutch government on Saturday refused permission for Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's plane to travel to the Netherlands ahead of a planned rally in the city of Rotterdam to drum up support for a referendum.

"The Turkish authorities have publicly threatened sanctions. That makes it impossible to reach a reasonable solution," the Dutch government said in a statement. 

"For that reason the Netherlands has let it be known it will withdraw permission to land" the minister's plane, it added.