ROTTERDAM: 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 police, some carrying out mounted charges on horseback, begin to forcefully disperse the protestors.

The port city´s mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told reporters police had moved in to try to break up “a few groups”, but that the situation in the city centre was stabilising as police “try to get everyone to return home.”

But after initially dispersing, the crowd began to gather in smaller groups again, with the police once again moving in, an AFP correspondent said.

The move came as the city´s authorities expelled Turkey´s Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and escorted her back to the German border.

She had crossed over several hours earlier aiming to attend a rally in support of the Turkish government´s planned April referendum, despite angry Dutch pleas to Ankara to keep its ministers away.

Earlier Dutch authorities had also refused Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu permission to land in the city for a rally to gather support for a referendum on boosting the presidential powers.