Wilders tells Turkish cabinet to "stay away" from the Netherlands, calls Erdogan "dictator"

Record ID: 401410

  • Title: Wilders tells Turkish cabinet to "stay away" from the Netherlands, calls Erdogan "dictator"
  • Date: 8th March 2017
  • Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (MARCH 8, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE ON HORSES NEXT TO TURKISH EMBASSY WITH CROWD GATHERED IN FRONT DUTCH FREEDOM PARTY LEADER, GEERT WILDERS, ARRIVING IN FRONT OF TURKISH EMBASSY VARIOUS OF WILDERS HOLDING A BANNER READING (Dutch and Turkish): "STAY AWAY, THIS IS OUR COUNTRY" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUTCH FREEDOM PARTY LEADER, GEERT WILDERS
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2017 10:28
  • Keywords: Wilders Turkey Erdogan Netherlands election Germany
  • Location: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
  • City: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA001673N1VR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders led a small protest outside Turkey's embassy on Wednesday (March 8), denouncing its president as a dictator, as he tried to arrest his party's slide in opinion polls with one week to go before a parliamentary election.
    Turkish politicians have announced plans to address rallies in Germany and the Netherlands to drum up support among expat Turks for President Tayyip Erdogan, stirring disquiet in both countries and offering a campaign opportunity for Wilders.
    He led a few dozen activists from his anti-Islam Freedom Party who unfurled a banner protesting the Turkish foreign minister's plans to campaign for Dutch-Turkish dual nationals to vote in an upcoming referendum to expand Erdogan's powers.
    "Minister of foreign affairs intends to come here in Holland and lobby for the referendum for the new constitution that only will strengthen the dictator called (Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan, he is a dictator, to help give him more power. I think we should not allow it. We say: 'stay away from us, stay away from here, this is our country, this is the Netherlands', we wouldn't allow lobbying for North Korea or Saudi Arabia in our country either," Wilders said of Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's plan to hold a rally in Rotterdam.
    Wilders' opposition right-wing Freedom Party, which wants to shutter mosques, ban the Koran, quit the European Union and stop Muslim immigration, led opinion polls for most of last year but is now losing ground to the conservative Christian Democrats (CDA) and the far-left Socialists.
    It is running second behind the pro-business liberals of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which along with the CDA has toughened some of its rhetoric on immigration and Islam in the hope of capturing support from Wilders.
    There was no reaction from within the embassy to the protest, during which bedraggled demonstrators unfurled a banner reading "Stay away. This is our country".
    The Dutch election is being closely watched in France and Germany, where populist anti-EU and anti-immigration politicians hope to make major gains in national elections this year and deliver upsets that could reshape European politics.
    But with Wilders' party now trailing on 14.6 percent in Peilingwijzer's poll of polls behind Rutte's VVD on 16.4 percent, and the Christian Democrats not far behind on 12.1 percent, that prospect may be receding.
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