Turkish elections spark crisis in the Netherlands

The tension in the voting process in some countries abroad for the May 14 elections in Turkey caused a crisis in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government claimed that fighting during the voting process in the country was “unacceptable” and that Turkey was exporting electoral tensions to its own countries.

As polls closed in the capital Amsterdam on Sunday, a fight broke out between voters of Turkish origin. Amsterdam police had declared a state of emergency in the face of escalating fighting and sent a riot police team to the region.

Dutch Social Affairs Minister Karien van Gennip briefed the House of Representatives on the events, describing the tension at the polls as “unacceptable and contrary to Dutch values”. Noting that an investigation has been launched into the incidents, Gennip said foreign voters have a fundamental right to vote in the country, while lawmakers from the ruling People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) criticized giving “more space” to voters of Turkish origin in the country.

‘LET’S TAKE CITIZENSHIP FROM THOSE WHO FIGHT’

VVD MP Bente Becker stated that the Dutch of Turkish origin are “under pressure from Erdogan supporters”. In the session where the proposal for foreign voters to vote by post was also discussed, the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) argued that voters involved in the fight should be “removed from Dutch citizenship and expelled from the country”.

The voting process, which ended on the afternoon of Sunday, May 7 in the Netherlands, where approximately 287,000 voters of Turkish origin are located, took place in ballot boxes installed in 4 different cities as of April 29. Voter turnout in the country was 51 percent.