TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS FAR-RIGHT DUTCH MP 'UNWELCOME' IN TURKEY

25/11/2009- Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, a vocal enemy of Islam, is "unwelcome" in Turkey, a foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday following reports that the controversial politician plans to visit the mainly Muslim country. "We reject the racist views of this person. … He is unwelcome in many European countries as well," spokesman Burak Özügergin told AFP. Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom, reportedly plans to join a delegation of Dutch parliamentarians expected to visit Turkey in January. Arguing that Europe is under the threat of Islamization, he has compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf," called for the Koran to be banned and described Islamic culture as "retarded." Fiercely opposed to Turkey's European Union membership bid, he has likened the country to a Trojan horse whose accession would prompt more Muslims to immigrate to Europe. "We have very good ties with the Netherlands. We worry that this person's inclusion in the Dutch delegation will cast a negative light on the whole visit, which, we believe, will be unfair to the Netherlands," Özügergin said. A government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Wilders' views "are bordering on fascism" and added: "I wonder whether he will find anybody to meet with here if he comes." Wilders was turned away at the airport when he tried to visit Britain in February on grounds he was spreading "hatred and violent messages." He visited London last month after the ban was overturned.
© AFP