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Erdogan lambasts Dutch ‘fascist’ politician

MALATYA, Turkey: Fascism not in our book, it’s in yours, says President Erdogan to Dutch politician Geert Wilders over insulting cartoon

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday hit back at Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders over an insulting cartoon he shared.

“Fascism is not in our book, it’s in your book. Social justice is in our book,” Erdogan said at a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in the eastern Malatya province, calling Wilders a “fascist.”

Image: AA

“The forces that make the world uninhabitable have put us on the target board because we disrupt their games and reveal their true faces,” Erdogan said, adding: “We will carry on.”

His remarks came after Wilders, known for his anti-Islamic stance, shared on Twitter an insulting cartoon of the Turkish president which was denounced by several Turkish officials, including Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“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,” Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

“Immoral, antihuman and fascist […],” said AK Party spokesman Omer Celik on Twitter in response to the post, along with the hashtag #TerroristGeertWilders.

Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, also took to Twitter in criticism of Islamophobia.

“Europe is an increasingly dangerous place for Muslims. The dog-whistle politics of offensive caricatures, accusations of separatism against Muslims, and mosque raids aren’t about freedom of expression,” Altun warned.

‘Taking sides with Azerbaijan’

“We were blamed for taking sides with our Azerbaijani brothers defending their lands in the Caucasus,” Erdogan said, adding that some Americans called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev telling him that they could impose sanctions on Turkey.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Upper Karabakh.

Four UN Security Council resolutions and two from the UN General Assembly, as well as international organizations, demand the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territory.

Since recent clashes erupted on Sept. 27, Armenia has repeatedly attacked Azerbaijani civilians and forces, even violating two humanitarian cease-fires announced earlier this month.

World powers, including Russia, France, and the US, have called for a new and lasting cease-fire. Turkey, meanwhile, has supported Baku’s right to self-defense and demanded the withdrawal of Armenia’s occupying forces.

Regarding the S-400 missile systems, Erdogan recalled that it was Turkey that stepped in to purchase US’s F-35 fighter jets.

“You [the US] threatened us. You said ‘Send the S-400s back to Russia’. We are not a tribal state. We are Turkey,” he stressed.

Since 2017, Turkey and the US have been at odds over Turkey’s decision to buy the S-400, a Russian-made missile defense system, with the US threatening to break its contract to sell Turkey F-35 fighter jets over the dispute.

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Napomena o autorskim pravima: Dozvoljeno preuzimanje sadržaja isključivo uz navođenje linka prema stranici našeg portala sa koje je sadržaj preuzet. Stavovi izraženi u ovom tekstu autorovi su i ne odražavaju nužno uredničku politiku The Balkantimes Press.

Copyright Notice: It is allowed to download the content only by providing a link to the page of our portal from which the content was downloaded. The views expressed in this text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies of The Balkantimes Press.