Islam in Europe

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned that Europe is headed for "wars of religion," claiming Dutch politicians are taking the continent "to a cliff." The statement comes amid a bitter dispute between the two countries.

According to Melvut Cavusoglu there is no real difference between the political parties in the Netherlands as they all have the mentality of Geert Wilders, as he commented the results of the Dutch elections.

Speculation has it that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte needs to stem the flow of votes to far-right leader Geert Wilders in the upcoming elections, and this is why he is presently behaving the way he is with Turkey. 

The Dutch political system may not have been deliberately designed to produce middle-of-the-road outcomes, but it certainly works that way in practice: many small parties, multi-party coalitions to create a majority government, perpetual compromise. It is almost impossible to radicalize a system like this, but Geert Wilders is going to try.

Turkey will not succumb to "fascists and racists" like Dutch nationalist politician Geert Wilders, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on March 9.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke on the phone to his Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders on March 8 ahead of his planned visit to the Netherlands in a bid to address Turks living there on constitutional change referendum campaigns in Turkey. 

A police officer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of leaking investigation information to a Moroccan-Dutch criminal organization, NRC reports. According to the newspaper, the officer in question is of Moroccan descent and works at the so-called Safety and Security Department, tasked with providing security to the royal family and threatened politicians like Geert Wilders, among others.

In March, Geert Wilders and his Party of Freedom could become the second strongest political force in the Dutch parliament.

But his supporters are nearly invisible - even in his home province of Limburg.

A Dutch court convicted populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders of hate speech Dec. 9 at the end of a trial he branded a politically motivated "charade" that endangered freedom of speech.

Increasing tension within Bosnia's main Bosniak [Muslim] party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, suggests that the party leader  - who is also chairman of the Bosnian Presidency - Bakir Izetbegovic, is losing his grip, analysts say.