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Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders has come under fire for sharing a defamatory cartoon of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media, while Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and other top Turkish officials criticized the racist lawmaker on Sunday.
Wilders shared the cartoon, which shows a picture of Erdoğan wearing a bomb-shaped hat with the logo of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on its head, along with the headline “terrorist.”
“The racist losers of Europe have shown their true colors when faced with reality,” Çavuşoğlu said.
“They are trying to take advantage of Islamophobia and xenophobia. It is about time that we say that they do away with the pampered and fascist politicians of Europe,” he added.
Turkey’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, also criticized Wilders for his hate speech.
“Europe is an increasingly dangerous place for Muslims. The policy of dog-whistling offensive cartoons, accusations of separatism against Muslims and raids on mosques is not about freedom of expression,” he said.
“It’s about intimidating and reminding Muslims that they are welcome to keep the European economy going, but will never belong, in the context of integration conferences. All we see about Muslims in European public culture today is eerily familiar to the demonization of European Jews in the 1920s, “added Altun.
“Some European leaders today are not only targeting Muslims among themselves. They attack our sacred values, our scriptures, our prophet and our political leaders, our way of life,” he said, adding that racist-motivated attacks are also against the religion of Islam itself.
“Europe’s hostility towards Muslims and efforts to ‘discipline’ them is inseparable from the increasingly widespread hostility towards Islam, Turkey and our president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” Altun concluded.
The chairman of the parliamentary group of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Naci Bostancı, also criticized Wilders for the insulting cartoon.
“Wilders is a prisoner of his dirty rhetoric. It is a shame for humanity. We hope that the Dutch, who belong to the civilized world, will do what is necessary,” he said, expressing his hopes that the far-right lawmaker will not be. elected again in the next Dutch elections.
AK Party spokesman Ömer Çelik was also among the senior Turkish officials who condemned Wilders.
“Despicable, enemy of humanity and fascist … It is a duty to fight against these despicable fascists,” he said.
“Humanity is not found in what they say. The only reason they are attacking our president is that he supports the oppressed on behalf of humanity, without concessions,” added Çelik.
“We are proud that our president is attacked by these fascists who are enemies of humanity. Because they are enemies of anyone who fights for humanity. It is the worst shame of all to be one of the people praised by them,” he added.
Attacks by fascists like Wilders against Erdoğan hint at his goal of “spilling the blood of the oppressed in Syria and Libya and doing what Adolf Hitler did with the Jews for these oppressed people,” added Çelik.
“Our president does not allow this fascism. We are going to fight against these fascists and strengthen that fight for humanity. Our president’s fight against these fascists is the fight against the enemies of humanity,” he said.
The vice chairman of the AK Party parliamentary group, Mehmet Muş, also criticized Wilders.
“Don’t bother to remind this Dutch fascist of European values because they no longer exist. The mentality that governs Europe is on the same page as this racist man,” he said.
“Let us cherish our own values, so as not to allow hostility against the Turks and Islam. That is when this scum will lose,” he said.
Another vice chairman of the AK Party group, Bülent Turan, also criticized Wilders’ hate speech.
“Europe is being tested with so-called leaders like Geert Wilders, who is impertinent, irresponsible and deranged,” he said.
“We have to be strong. Humanity must win against people who want to embolden terrorism,” Turan added.
Along with officials, people on social media were also quick to respond, criticizing the racist politician for insulting Turkey’s head of state with an underlying Islamophobic message by using the word “terrorist,” as Wilders has associated Muslims. with countless acts of terrorism. times in the past.
Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party against Islam for Freedom (PVV), lost four seats in the May 2019 European Parliament elections in which the Social Democratic Party was the surprise winner.
Throughout his political career, Wilders has proven himself to be a racist through his many obnoxious anti-Islamic comments.
In 2019, Wilders canceled a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that sparked protests in Pakistan.
The anti-Islam party leader said he decided to “let the fight go” after death threats and concerns that others might be in danger.
Wilders added that his fight against Islam would continue and no threat could stop him.
At the event, scheduled for November, Wilders planned to display cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad at the closely guarded offices of his Freedom Party in the Dutch parliament building. He said he received “hundreds” of entries.
The Dutch politician was also fined 5,000 euros ($ 5,400) in 2016 on charges of hate speech and discrimination.
He faced charges of discrimination and incitement to racial hatred at a rally in 2014, where he led his supporters to shout that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.
In a televised incident on March 19, 2014, Wilders asked his followers if they wanted more or less Moroccans, to which the crowd responded: “Less! Less! Less!” A smiling Wilders replied, “We’ll take care of that.”
