A Turkish citizen in the Netherlands casted his/her vote for Turkey’s referendum with an attached note saying that he got sacked as a result of Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy of hatred.
Ballot boxes at Turkish embassies have opened earlier for voting by those living abroad while citizens in Turkey are set to cast their votes on Apr 16. Erdoğan is seeking to shift Turkey from parliamentary system into executive presidency getting more power on his hands after a ‘Yes’ vote.
An Amsterdam-based voter shared a picture of his/her voting of ‘No’ and a note in which s/he said s/he got sacked after a dispute that emerged out of what s/he calls the government’s policy of hatred.
“I have been in the Netherlands, away from home for 40 years and I am a fan of AK Party for 15 years. I got fired after a quarrel that started due to the denied request by dear Ms. Betul. And I fell out with my foreign friends for the same reason. You have brought your policy of hatred over here too. You dishonored expats,” reads the note.
Turkish government has been going aggressive against perceived enemies in recent years, after the July 15 coup attempt in particular. Some 130,000 people have lost their jobs, 115,000 have been detained and 47,000 put in pre-trial arrest since the coup bid.
While the government has been calling on citizens to report on dissident voices to the police labeling them as terrorists.
Relations between Turkey and the Netherlands recently became strained when The Hague refused to allow two Turkish ministers into the country to hold political rallies ahead of the upcoming referendum. And also the Hague expelled Turkish Minister of Family and Social Policy Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya from the Netherlands after she insisted on going to the residence of the Turkish Consulate General in Rotterdam to make a political campaign speech.
A polarizing political language in Turkey has spread to the Europe since then as Erdoğan called Dutch as fascists. While some Turkish expats in Europe are reported to be satisfied with Erdoğan’s remarks, some think that Turks were isolated in the public in host countries after the brawl. (turkeypurge.com) April 10, 2017
