Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, known for his anti-migrant and Islamophobic stance, urged Turks living in the Netherlands who voted for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to leave the country after Sunday’s elections.
“I hope that all Turks in the Netherlands who voted for the Islamofascist Erdogan will pack their bags and move to Turkey. Byeiii!” Wilders said.
He also claimed that Turkish people in Türkiye were “disappointed” that citizens living abroad impacted election results.
President Erdoğan received 70.59% of the votes cast in the Netherlands, while his contender Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 29.41%.
There were 292,888 Turkish nationals eligible to vote in the country and 54.9% of these voters participated in the elections.
Throughout his political career, Wilders has proven himself to be racist through his numerous abhorrent anti-Islamic comments.
Wilders frequently targets Erdoğan and exploits anti-Türkiye rhetoric as part of his domestic policy.
Wilders, the leader of the Dutch anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV), lost four seats in the European Parliament election in May 2019, in which the Social Democrat Party emerged as the surprise winner.
Throughout his political career, Wilders has proven himself to be a racist through his numerous abhorrent anti-Islam comments.
In 2019, Wilders canceled a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that sparked protests in Pakistan.
The outspoken anti-Islam party leader said he decided to “let the contest go” following death threats and concerns other people could be put at risk.
Wilders added that his fight against Islam would continue and no threat could stop him.
In the event, scheduled for November, Wilders planned to display caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad at the tightly guarded offices of his Party for Freedom in the Dutch parliament building. He said he received “hundreds” of entries.
The Dutch politician was also fined 5,000 euros ($5,400) in 2016 on charges of hate speech and discrimination.
He faced charges of discrimination and inciting racial hatred at a rally in 2014, where he led supporters in chanting that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.
