Geert Wilders, an anti-Islamic Dutch politician, has called on the Turkish people to elect a secular leader who will promote women’s rights and prevent an influx of Arab refugees into the country, in remarks that have been interpreted as targeting Turkey’s Islamist leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“I won the Dutch elections. And I wish that Turkish citizens who support secularism and Kemalism will elect a new leader who can win the next elections. Someone who halts the influx of more Arabs in Turkey, protects Turkish women, supports the working class and stops corruption,” Wilders said on X, formerly Twitter, on Dec. 24.
His tweet comes at a time of an unexpected election victory by his party, the Freedom Party (PVV), in November, winning 37 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. He may be the next prime minister of the Netherlands if he manages to establish a government in coalition with other parties.
The 60-year-old Dutch politician, whose party has been in the Dutch parliament for 25 years, frequently comes to public attention with his anti-Islamic and anti-refugee statements. He even talked about banning mosques and Islamic schools in his country.
In another tweet before the elections in July, Wilders, among other things, called on Erdoğan supporters in Europe to go back to Turkey.
If I would be a Turkish politician:
1. Turkey is not an Arab nation.
2. Turkey must be a secular nation.
3. Arabs in Turkey must be send home.
4. Women must be fully respected and safe.
5. Turkish Erdogan-lovers in EU must go back to Turkey.
6. No more Erdogan.Agree? Please RT
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 26, 2023
President Erdoğan, who extended his two-decade rule in Turkey in the May general election, is frequently criticized for an open door policy towards refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries, for pursuing an Islamist agenda in violation of the secularism guaranteed in the Turkish Constitution and due to what many say is his “misogynistic language.”