Turkey slams ‘racist’ Dutch politician over Erdoğan cartoon
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has condemned racism in Europe after Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and insistently naming him “terrorist.” The ruling AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik also slammed Wilders, calling him “immoral, antihuman and fascist.”
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Ankara condemned Oct. 25 racism in Europe after Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders called President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “terrorist.”
“When truth spoken to their faces Europe's loser racists showed up again. Trying to exploit Islamophobia and xenophobia. Time has come to stop Europe’s spoiled politicians with fascist mindset,” Turkish Foreign Minister Çavusoğlu wrote on Twitter, in an apparent response to Wilders.
Wilders posted Oct. 24 a cartoon portraying Erdoğan with a bomb, and wrote “terrorist.”
Following criticism against him, Wilders posted another tweet in Dutch, saying “The Turks are angry because I called Erdoğan a terrorist. The truth is sometimes unpleasant, but no less true.”
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) also slammed Wilders, calling him “immoral, antihuman and fascist.”
“While fascists likeGeert Wilders attack our president, their intention is to shed the blood of theoppressed in Syria and Libya, and to commit Hitler's cruelty to the Jews inEurope to Muslims,” party spokesperson Ömer Çelik wrote on Twitter, using thehashtag #TerroristGeertWilders.
“We will fight against these fascists. We will raise thisstruggle in the name of humanity. The struggle of our president, who does notallow these fascists, is the struggle with the enemies of humanity,” he added.
Known for his anti-Islam stance, Wilders is the chairman of the Party for Freedom (PVV), and was found guilty of insulting a minority group during his 2014 election campaign.