Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will go to the Netherlands to attend the 10th Wittenburg Conference after the Dutch Parliament stipulated the condition of release for Demirtaş and Kavala for the modernisation of the Customs Union.

Fidan will meet with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot and discuss regional developments. According to the sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sensitive issues such as Israel-Palestine, Ukraine and Cyprus, as well as Turkey's EU membership process and the updating of the Customs Union will be discussed during the visit.

On Wednesday, 17 April, the Dutch Parliament voted in favour of a motion to block the EU's Customs Union update with Turkey in the event that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rulings on former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who is being held hostage in prison, and Osman Kavala, a businessman imprisoned in the Gezi Trial, are not implemented. It is stated that this decision may also affect the developments in Turkey's domestic and foreign policy.

Dutch MP Kati Piri posted the following on her X account: "No modernization of customs union with Turkey until the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights rulings on the immediate release of Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş are implemented. Dutch parliament just adopted my motion ahead of the EU Council.”

The Wittenburg Conference aims to strengthen bilateral relations and co-operation between Turkey and the Netherlands. These meetings, where social, economic, cultural and security issues are discussed, are organised in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed in March 2008. The latest meetings aim to ensure the continuation of co-operation despite the tensions in bilateral relations.

Fidan's recent visit to Belgium was followed by organised racist attacks against Kurds.