Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into remarks by Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Tuesday.
The investigation was launched on February 15, NTV cited the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office as saying, after Wilders called the Turkish President a terrorist and urged the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to expel Turkey’s ambassador from the country, as well as the country from the NATO coalition.
“Erdogan has even reported me in Turkey and wants me behind bars there. It is time for Rutte to show courage and deal with the terrorist Erdogan, stop his influence in the Netherlands, expel Turkey from NATO and expel the Turkish ambassador”, Wilders wrote in a Twitter post on Monday.
Reacting to the comments, the spokesperson of Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Omer Celik called Wilders a “fascist” and a “Daesh murderer”.
“This fascist who attacked our president, had he lived in the years of World War II, he would be a Nazi now cursed. If he was currently living in the Middle East, he would be a Daesh murderer. In this age and time he lives in the Netherlands and became an ugly fascist, anti-human,” Celik wrote in a Twitter post the same day.
Erdogan heeft zelfs aangifte tegen me gedaan in Turkije en wil me daar achter de tralies. Het wordt tijd dat Rutte lef toont en de terrorist Erdogan aanpakt, zijn invloed in NL stopt, Turkije uit de NAVO zet en de Turkse ambassadeur uitwijst!#Erdogan #Turkije #Wilders
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) February 15, 2021
The far-right member of the Dutch House of Representatives and leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) is known for his hardline stance against Islam. In another Twitter post, Wilders posted a picture of Erdogan presented as a member of the Islamic State (IS).
Terrorist. pic.twitter.com/ZL8ZD519aW
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) February 15, 2021