Geert Wilders Protests Turkish Government Campaigning in the Netherlands

Dutch far-right Freedom Party leader (Partij Voor De Vrijheid, PVV) Geert Wilders arrives
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Dutch anti-mass migration Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders showed up outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague to protest a visit from Turkey’s foreign minister who is drumming up support for the upcoming Turkish referendum.

Mr. Wilders was joined by several members of his party and other Dutch MPs who are against the visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, Dutch online paper Nu.nl reports. Cavusoglu is set to give a speech at a rally on 11 March in Rotterdam where he intends to drum up support for an upcoming referendum in Turkey that would abolish the position of prime minister.

“Leave us alone, lobby in your own country, and stay away,” said Wilders. “Mr Erdogan is a mere dictator,” he said, adding: “We would not allow lobbying for North Korea or Saudi Arabia in our country either.”

Dutch far-right Freedom Party leader (Partij Voor De Vrijheid, PVV) Geert Wilders (L) holds a banner reading "Get out! This is our land" during demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy at The Hague on March 8, 2017. Wilders protested against the Turkish government intention to campaign in the Netherlands in favor of the referendum on the Turkish constitutional changes. The Dutch parliamentary elections are set to take place on March 15 with Wilders and his far-right PVV Party leading the polls. / AFP PHOTO / ANP / Robin van Lonkhuijsen / Netherlands OUT (Photo credit should read ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Photo: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP/Getty Images

Wilders and his allies held up a banner in front of the embassy that read: “Stay Away From the Netherlands.” He was joined briefly by the Dutch branch of the anti-Islamisation PEGIDA movement which was formed originally in the German city of Dresden.

The leader of the Dutch branch of PEGIDA, Edwin Wagenveld, told Breitbart London his group attended the protest for a short while and then left to start their own protest in the nearby town of Breda.

“We went to Breda because each year on world woman day we have special flyer action, and we were thinking since Wilders is coming to Breda we will do it there,” he said.  “Turkey campaigning in my country should be forbidden,” Wagenveld said.

16839423_392644124451542_252233333_n

Two PEGIDA protestors don Islamic burkas to protest Islamisation on International Women’s Day. Photo: PEGIDA Netherlands

Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb said soon after the protest the speech by the Turkish foreign minister had been cancelled citing the fact the owner of the property where the rally was to take place had withdrawn his permission. “Rotterdam’s security agencies would likely have forbidden it otherwise,” he added.

The Dutch national election is set to take place on 15 March. Wilders had briefly suspended his campaign after it was revealed a member of his security team had been leaking information. The member of the security staff, a man of Morrocan origin, was later arrested.

Wilders has been a constant critic of Morrocan gang violence in the Netherlands and was tried and convicted of hate speech last year due to comments he made regarding Morrocan crime in 2014.

Current polls show Wilders’ party, the PVV, three points behind the current ruling party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Wilders has campaigned on a platform of anti-mass migration and has one of the most radical anti-Islamisation platforms in Europe, wanting to close all mosques in the Netherlands and ban the Quran.

 Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart.com

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.