Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

The Netherlands Approves Burqa Ban

By

Netherlands Burqa Ban

Pictured: A person wearing an Islamic full-face covering in The Hague, Netherlands. (Image source: Patrick Rasenberg/Flickr CC by-NC 2.0)

by Soeren Kern,

  • “People’s faces should not be hidden in society, for it is our faces that give us our identity and our fundamental means of communication with others.” — Geert Wilders, Party for Freedom (PVV).
  • Dutch Interior Minister Kajsa Ollongren said the new law represents “a fair balance” between “the freedom to dress as one wishes” and “the general interest of communication and security.” She also said that far from violating fundamental rights, the ban will enable Muslim women “to have access to a wider social life” because if they do not cover the face “they will have more possibilities for contact, communication and opportunities to enter the job market.”
  • The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) twice has ruled that burqa bans are legal, making it unlikely that the Dutch ban could be overturned in court.

The Dutch Senate has approved a law that bans the wearing of “face-covering clothing” in public buildings, including hospitals, schools and government offices, as well as on public transportation.

Although the ban does not extend to public streets, the law authorizes police to ask individuals to remove face-covering clothing to establish their identity.

Those found flouting the ban — which includes Islamic veils and robes such as burqas (which cover the entire face) and niqabs (which cover the entire face except for the eyes), as well as balaclavas and full-face helmets — will be subject to a fine of 410 euros ($475).

The new law, previously adopted by the Dutch House of Representatives in November 2016, was approved on June 26 by 44 to 31 votes in the 75-seat Senate.

In a statement, the government, which has not yet said when the law will enter into effect, explained its purpose:

“In a free country like the Netherlands, everyone has the freedom and space to behave and dress as he or she desires. Sometimes, limits can and must be imposed on that freedom. In the case of face-covering clothing, this applies in particular if mutual communication is impeded or safety is jeopardized.

“Mutual communication whereby people can look each other in the face is so important that uniform rules have now been laid down by law. This makes it clear to everyone what is and is not allowed in those situations.”

A Muslim activist group called “Stay away from my Niqab!” said the ban is unconstitutional. In an open letter sent to Dutch lawmakers, the group, which has more than 5,000 followers on Facebook, asked:

“Why is it not realized that this law leads to people being isolated from society? This ban leads to women who wear face-covering clothing, who like to participate in society, no longer to be able to do this effectively because they now have a restriction on education, license applications, travel with public transport, visiting a doctor and much more….

“Is the constitution no longer applicable to women with face-covering clothing? What about the right that everyone is free to dress how he/she wants, regardless of race, gender, religion or belief?

“What about Article 6 of the Constitution which sets out freedom of religion and belief? Is there a problem in which everyone does not have the right freely to confess their religion or belief, individually or in community with others?”

The group’s spokeswoman, Karima Rahmani, added:

“We feel that we are being wronged with a repressive measure, which is why we trying to make our voices heard. It is getting harder and harder to be on the street with a niqab. I myself have been threatened with death, and other women have even been physically attacked.

“There is a lot of talk about me, but no one comes to me to ask: ‘Why do you actually wear that niqab?’ It is part of my religion and I want to be free to make that choice. It is a spiritual experience that I personally experience.”

The Council of State, an independent advisor to the government on legislation, said that the ban was unnecessary and potentially unconstitutional. In a November 2015 report, it said that the Dutch Cabinet had been guided too much by “subjective feelings of insecurity” that “do not justify a ban.” It added:

“The Council of State points out that the bill primarily seems to have been motivated by objections to wearing Islamic face-covering clothing…. Insofar as face-covering clothing (for example a burqa) is worn to express a religious clothing prescription, this falls under the constitutionally-protected freedom of religion. The ban proposed by the government does not, according to the Council of State, justify restricting the right to freedom of religion.”

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), however, twice has ruled that burqa bans are legal, making it unlikely that the Dutch ban could be overturned in court.

Netherlands plans to officially ban Turkish politicians’ election campaigns

By

Netherlands ban Turkish politicians

Netherlands ban Turkish politicians

People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the largest coalition partner of the Dutch government headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte has started preparing a law to ban Turkish politicians’ election campaigns in the Netherlands, Ahval news agency reports, citing BBC Turkish Service.

Bente Becker a member of the parliament from VVD, told local media that foreign politicians who run election campaigns disrupt the peace in the Dutch society and said that, like Germany, the Netherlands needed a legislation to ban the election campaigns of Turkish politicians offically.

Coalition partner Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) strongly supports VVD’s proposal, BBC Turkish said.

In Mar. 2017, during the Turkish campaign to change the constitution to a presidential system, the Netherlands refused to allow Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s plane to land in the country.

Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya came from Germany by road to hold a rally in response, and was declared persona non grata and escorted by police out of the Netherlands.

As a response, Turkey denied entry to Dutch Ambassador to Turkey and the Netherlands decided to officially withdraw its ambassador to Turkey in Feb. 2018.

Turkey angered by Dutch decision to recognise Armenian genocide

By

Turkey has summoned the Netherlands’ senior diplomat to account for the Dutch parliament’s vote to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915. A majority of MPs backed a campaign by Christian Union MP Joël Voordewind to acknowledge the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenian Christians by the Ottoman empire as an act of genocide. They also supported sending a minister to represent the Netherlands at the official commemoration in Armenia in April. The decision has put further strain on the already frayed relationship between the two countries.
The Netherlands formally withdrew its ambassador from Ankara earlier this month, but has had no representation since last March, when a Turkish minister was denied permission to attend a gathering of supporters in Rotterdam and given a police escort out of the country. Turkey has ordered the acting ambassador to report to the ministry of foreign affairs to discuss what its government continues to describe as ‘the Armenian question’. Voordewind said the Netherlands should take a stand as the home of the institutions of international law in The Hague. ‘We are acknowledging history,’ he said. ‘That is not the same thing as casting aspersions as Turkey has done towards the Netherlands.’

Netherlands recalls ambassador from Turkey

By

Netherlands recalls ambassador

The spat between the Netherlands and Ankara stems from the Dutch refusal to allow Turkish ministers to campaign for a 2017 referendum. The Dutch foreign ministry said repeated efforts to normalize relations have failed.

The Netherlands has officially withdrawn its ambassador from Turkey, the Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry added that it will not allow a new Turkish ambassador in Amsterdam as long as there is no Dutch ambassador in Ankara.

Despite recent talks between the two countries, Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said “we could not reach an agreement on how to normalize relations.”

The Dutch foreign ministry has “paused” talks with Turkey on resolving the matter, it said.

Turkish referendum 

The withdrawal of the ambassador is a largely symbolic gesture as the diplomat has been barred from Turkey since March 2017, when relations between the two countries took a downward turn over the Dutch refusal to allow Turkish ministers to campaign in the Netherlands ahead of a referendum.

Protests erupted in Rotterdam after the Netherlands expelled Turkey’s Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kayar before she could address a campaign rally of Dutch-Turkish citizens in favor of the vote which sought to expand the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hungary suspends diplomatic ties with the Netherlands

By

Hungary has recalled its ambassador in The Hague. The move comes in response to remarks made by the Dutch envoy, in which he compared Budapest’s efforts to “create enemies” to those of the “Islamic State” jihadist group.

Blunt remarks by the Netherlands’ ambassador to Hungary, Gajus Scheltema, have ruptured relations between the two EU member states and prompted Budapest to take “one of the most radical steps in diplomacy” by withdrawing its ambassador from The Hague.

In an interview published Thursday in the Hungarian opposition magazine 168 Ora, Scheltema lambasted Hungary’s unwillingness to take part in the EU’s plan to relocate asylum seekers, expressed concerns over corruption and press freedom in the country, and decried the Orban government’s campaign against billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros.

However, what most enraged Budapest was when he drew parallels between the Hungarian government and the so-called “Islamic State” jihadist group.

“Here it is always an immediate search for an enemy,” he said, accusing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “creating enemies according to the same principle as globalization losers and religious fanatics.”

The interview was published in Hungarian, although it remains unclear in what language it was conducted.

Budapest hits back

Following the interview, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Budapest would withdraw its ambassador from The Hague and bar Scheltema from entering any Hungarian ministry or state institution.

“Relations at the level of ambassadors have been suspended indeterminably,” Szijjarto said.

Hungary’s top diplomat described the decision as “one of the most radical steps in diplomacy,” adding that he would ask for the Dutch Foreign Ministry’s position on ambassador Scheltema’s statements. “We won’t settle for an explanation behind closed doors,” he said.

Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Scheltema’s remarks were “totally unacceptable and impermissible.”

“There is no need for such unprecedented statements, neither in bilateral relations nor in Europe,” Kovacs said. “We decidedly reject (them) and we expect the Netherlands to take steps in this regard.”

Scheltema was reportedly already scheduled to leave his diplomatic post in the near future.

Netherlands: Fipronil in eggs: Dutch police arrest two suspects, contaminated egg scandal

By

Police in the Netherlands have detained two men suspected of being involved in the illegal use of a pesticide in the poultry industry. Millions of fipronil-contaminated eggs have been recalled since the scandal broke.

Dutch prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that the men are directors of a company that allegedly used an unauthorized insecticide at poultry farms.

Investigators in the Netherlands and Belgium made the arrests during a string of coordinated raids linked to their probe into how fipronil, which can be harmful to humans, made it into the food chain.

“The Dutch investigation focused on the Dutch company that allegedly used fipronil, a Belgian supplier as well as a Dutch company that colluded with the Belgian supplier,” the prosecutors said.

“They are suspected of putting public health in danger by supplying and using fipronil in pens containing egg-laying chickens.”

Authorities in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany recalled millions of eggs at the start of the month after the discovery of fipronil in batches delivered to supermarkets. Dozens of poultry farms, mainly in the Netherlands but also in Belgium, have been closed down, while supermarkets have cleared tainted eggs from their shelves.

The French agriculture ministry confirmed on Friday that 250,000 contaminated eggs had been “on the market” in France between April and July. Five companies using egg products were been involved. A first batch of 196,000 eggs from Belgium had been placed on the market between April 16 and May 2 and a second lot from the Netherlands of 48,000 eggs had been sold through Leader Price shops between July 19 and 28.

The insecticide is a common ingredient in anti-lice treatments, but it is banned from being used on animals destined for human consumption. Fipronil can be hazardous to humans’ kidneys, liver and thyroid glands, according to the World Health Organization, but only if consumed in large quantities.

Netherlands: Turkish deputy PM not welcome for rally

By

Turks not welcome

The decision follows a severe spat between the Netherlands and Turkey in March

The Dutch government has said that Turkish politicians are not welcome at a ceremony commemorating last July’s failed coup attempt in Turkey. A similar dispute in March severely tested ties between the two countries.

The Netherlands’ foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday that Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Tugrul Turkes, would not be welcome at a rally marking one year since a failed coup attempt in Ankara and Istanbul.

The decision was made “given the current circumstance in bilateral relations between our countries,” the ministry statement said.

The move would apply  to any government minister, but Turkes was already scheduled to attend an event organized by a Turkish organization in Apeldoorn, east of Amsterdam, on July 11.

Military officers attempted to overthrow Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian government on the night of July 15 into 16, 2016. Turkey accused Western governments of failing to express support for Erdogan’s government quickly enough. Since then, Erdogan has launched an industrial-scale purge of the military, academia, the legal system and the press – while pushing through a series of contentious reforms expanding his powers as president.

The referendum precedent

Ties between the Netherlands and Turkey were particularly strained in March this year, in the run-up to Dutch elections and the Turkish referendum that narrowly approved Erdogan’s new executive role.

Netherlands expels Turkish minister as diplomatic row escalates

Erdogan’s victory relied in no small part on his supporters living in EU countries casting postal ballots supporting him. To this end, his Justice and Development Party (AKP) set up a series of campaign rallies across Europe.

The Netherlands declared that Turkish leaders would not be welcome to campaign, and later expelled one who tried to defy the ban.

This prompted public protests centered around the port city of Rotterdam, where Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was refused entry to the Turkish consulate. Hundreds of Turkish protesters surrounded the building in response, a demonstration that culminated in 12 arrests for public order offenses.

Rotterdam keeps cool head amid Netherlands-Turkey diplomatic row

Both President Erdogan and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte are currently in Hamburg for the G20 summit.

Parallels to Germany and Turkey unease

Germany, with Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora, has issued similar restrictions on Turkish political rallies. President Erdogan recently called limitations on the public appearances he could make while visiting Hamburg “political suicide.”

Germany doubles down on Erdogan rally ban during Hamburg G20

Erdogan brands Germany’s rally refusal ‘political suicide’

“There are more than 3 million Turkish citizens living in Germany. Why do German officials prevent me, as president of Turkey, from meeting with them and speaking to them? Why don’t they allow it,” Erdogan asked in an interview with the Die Zeit weekly, his first in years with any German newspaper. “Where is the freedom of opinion, the freedom of thought? And while you deny a country’s head of state the right to speak, PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] members can speak and demonstrate quite comfortably – and we can’t even speak by video link, which has been banned by the Constitutional Court.”

Turkey’s ties with Europe in general have been tense in recent years, especially since Erdogan’s transition to the presidency after a decade as prime minister. On Thursday, the European Parliament voted to formally suspend talks on Turkey’s long-stalled bid to join the EU.

msh/rc  (dpa, Reuters)

Chairman of Turkish-Azerbaijani Union in the Netherlands convicted for anti-Armenian speech

By

The court of Almelo city in the Netherlands has convicted Ilhan Askin, Chairman of the Turkish-Azerbaijani Cultural Union in The Hague on charges of inciting violence against Armenians. The official website of Armenian National Committee – International told Panorama.am.

Askin is accused of inciting violence against Armenians, as during a pro-Turkish rally held in front of the Armenian Genocide monument in Almelo, he chanted “Karabakh will be Armenians’ grave” inciting violence and insulting the people with Armenian roots.

The court ruled out a graver punishment against the Turkish politician sentencing him to “120 hours of community service and a suspended imprisonment of four weeks with a probation period of two years.” Whereas the Prosecutor demanded 80 hours of community service and two weeks of suspended imprisonment with a probation period of two years.

 

 

Source Panorama.am

Turkey targets Dutch with diplomatic sanctions as ‘Nazi’ row escalates

By

Turkey said on Monday it would suspend high-level diplomatic relations with the Netherlands after Dutch authorities prevented its ministers from speaking at rallies of expatriate Turks, deepening the row between the two NATO allies, Reuters reports.
The sanctions – which include a ban on the Dutch ambassador and diplomatic flights from the Netherlands but do not appear to include economic measures or travel restrictions for ordinary citizens – mark another low point in relations between Turkey and the European Union, which it still officially aims to join. President Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking Turkish voters’ support in an April 16 referendum on boosting his powers as head of state, has previously accused the Dutch government of acting like “Nazi remnants” for barring his ministers from addressing expatriate Turks to drum up votes.
The row is likely to further dim Ankara’s prospects of EU membership. It also comes as Turkey wrestles with security concerns over militant attacks and the war in neighboring Syria.
“We are doing exactly what they did to us. We are not allowing planes carrying Dutch diplomats or envoys from landing in Turkey or using our airspace,” Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference after a cabinet meeting. “Those creating this crisis are responsible for fixing it.”
Kurtulmus, the government’s chief spokesman, also threatened to scrap Turkey’s deal to stop the flow of migrants into Europe, saying the agreement may need to be re-evaluated. He said high-level government meetings would be suspended between the two countries until the Netherlands had atoned for its actions.
Earlier Erdogan threatened to take the Dutch to the European Court of Human Rights.
Turkey also summoned the Dutch charge d’affaires on Monday to complain about the ban – imposed due to fears of unrest and also to Dutch distaste at what Europe sees as an increasingly authoritarian tone from Erdogan – and the actions of police against Turkish protesters in Rotterdam over the weekend, foreign ministry sources said.
On Sunday, Dutch police used dogs and water cannon to disperse hundreds of protesters waving Turkish flags outside the consulate in Rotterdam. Some protesters threw bottles and stones and several demonstrators were beaten by police with batons, a Reuters witness said. Mounted police

Netherlands bars Turkish FM’s plane from landing

By

,The Netherlands has barred a plane carrying the Turkish foreign minister from landing to drum up support for an April referendum in Turkey, saying the trip was be a threat to public order.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Saturday said Turkey’s call for a massive rally had upset discussions under which his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu would have been allowed to enter the European country.

The ban came despite Ankara’s threat of sanctions against Amsterdam if the Dutch government canceled Cavusoglu’s visit.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at the decision, saying the ban was reminiscent of Nazism and pledged to retaliate.

Cavusolgu had told CNN Turk earlier in the day, “I am going to Rotterdam today, if the Netherlands cancels my flight permit, our sanctions to the Netherlands would be heavy.”

The Dutch premier slammed the threat of sanctions, saying such a move “made a reasonable solution impossible.”

Cavusoglu denounced “fascist practices” by the Dutch government against rallies aimed at gathering support among Turkish citizens in the Netherlands in the April 16 referendum on giving executive powers to Erdogan.

Amsterdam had previously expressed opposition to Ankara’s plans for holding a referendum rally there. Germany has also canceled two Turkish ministers’ plans for rallies.

During the Saturday interview, the Turkish foreign minister said German and Dutch bans on campaigns for a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum on constitutional changes means that Europe is “taking a side for a ‘No’ vote.”

On February 10, Erdogan approved a bill earlier adopted by the parliament that will change the country’s political system into a presidential one if approved in the referendum.

The European Council said the amendments would give the president “the power to dissolve parliament on any grounds whatsoever, which is fundamentally alien to democratic presidential systems.”

The president would be able to serve for a maximum of two five-year-long mandates. That means Erdogan could end up staying in office for two more terms until 2029, with the next elections scheduled for 2019.

The new constitution would also reportedly pave the way for the abolition of the post of prime minister, in which Erdogan served from 2003 until 2014, and enable the appointment of vice presidents. It would also empower the president to hire and fire ministers.

The proposed constitutional changes have been met with widespread protests across the country, with critics claiming that the ruling party is using last year’s botched putsch to expand Erdogan’s authority and crackdown on opposition.

More than 250 were killed during the coup on July 15, when a group of army soldiers and police officers attempted to oust Erdogan. After suppressing the coup, Erdogan ordered a massive crackdown, which has seen more than 40,000 people jailed and some 110,000 others discharged from their jobs.