“Racist” Madlener demands apology of Turkish Minister
by Robin van der Kloor
With the advent of the Party for Freedom in the European Parliament, the inevitable conflicts arise between the party and Turkey. Thus the PVV MP Barry Madlener requires an apology because a Turkish minister has called him a racist.
Madlener made this known last Wednesday [May 26] from Turkey, where he was staying as a member of a delegation from the European Parliament.
The PVV MP is angry with the Turkish Minister for European Affairs, Egemen Bagis, because of that remark. According to Madlener, the Turkish Minister made his statement Tuesday [May 25] after critical questions were raised by Madlener, including about the Turkish refusal to welcome PVV leader Geert Wilders. Bagis in a reply said that Madlener suffers “from a disease that is called racism.”
In an conversation with the PVV MP, the minister later denied he had said that. But according to Madlener, recordings were made by a camera team of the RTL. “Also the English translation of the statements by Egemen Bagis shows he said that.”
Madlener wants Bagis to take back his words. “Otherwise he has to prove I am a racist, which he can’t, because that is not what I am.”
The Party for Freedom is fiercely opposed to Turkish membership in the EU. This was one of the reasons that party leader Geert Wilders left the VVD [center-right liberals] in 2004 and started his own party [the PVV].
VH says the incident reminds him of a similar occasion last fall, when Mr. Madlener talked tough to Egemen Bagis in the EU Parliament concerning the treatment of the Dutch delegation during its visit to Turkey. Mr. Madlener’s remarks were videotaped; many thanks to VH for the translation and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
A full transcript of the video is at the bottom of this post. [Thank goodness our satellite connection has been repaired! I was actually able to watch this video.]
VH adds this note:
The chairperson of the European delegation to Turkey, MEP Hélène Flautre (France) of “Europe Écologie”, the “Greens,” sided with Egemen Bagis in silencing both Barry Madlener and the press.
VH also includes a translation of a contemporary news article about the incident:
- - - - - - - - -
Turkish parliament closes its doors when PVV performs
Ankara, October 26, 2009— A meeting of MEPs and Turkish MPs in Ankara this afternoon suddenly was declared “not public”. This was done to ensure that expressions of the MEP Barry Madlener (PVV) about Turkey would become public.
[…] That decision was made just before the convening of the meeting by the Turkish president, Elvan Lüfti, in consultation with the staff of Bagis and the other chairman of the meeting, French MEP Hélène Flautre. They were afraid that the statements of Madlener on Turkey and the EU would dominate the Turkish news and increase the dislike of the EU with portions of the Turkish population.
Video transcript:
| 00:04 | I thank Minister Bagis for his presence here. Fine words, | |
| 00:08 | …fine words on human rights, freedom of speech, and democracy, | |
| 00:12 | …but unfortunately you of course don’t mean any of it. For how can you… | |
| 00:16 | …call Iran, such an anti-democratic regime, | |
| 00:20 | keep calling it your friend. How can you, member of… | |
| 00:24 | …the OIC, Turkey is member of the OIC, the Organization… | |
| 00:28 | …of the Islamic Conference, how can you have signed… | |
| 00:32 | …something that says freedom of expression, that human rights, should be… | |
| 00:36 | …limited to the Sharia, to what the Sharia states. How can you, | |
| 00:40 | …during my visit to your country, send away the press… | |
| 00:44 | …because I criticize the role of Turkey in Cyprus. | |
| 00:48 | You did that, your chairman did that, together with my chairman… | |
| 00:52 | …Mrs. Flautre, which of course was a disgraceful action, on which my chairman, | |
| 00:56 | Mrs. Flautre [Greens, France] should never have agreed to, sending the press away, | |
| 01:00 | because I criticize, and make use of my freedom of speech. | |
| 01:04 | How can you, Turkey, refuse my party leader Geert Wilders, | |
| 01:08 | who makes use of his freedom of speech, and criticizes… | |
| 01:12 | …the ideology of Islam, how can you, how can your country… | |
| 01:16 | …refuse him [entry]. He is member of a delegation from the Netherlands… | |
| 01:20 | …and you refuse to speak with him. How then dare you… | |
| 01:24 | …talk here about freedom of speech. | |
| 01:28 | Then the occupation of Cyprus: the occupation is illegal. | |
| 01:32 | You must withdraw your troops from Cyprus in 2010. You occupy… | |
| 01:36 | …a member of the European Union. Illegal, and that is what we all find here. | |
| 01:40 | Then our statement about the Swiss referendum. | |
| 01:44 | I’ve read that you talk about the shame of the Swiss referendum result, | |
| 01:48 | that Muslims are not allowed to build minarets. | |
| 01:52 | I think Muslims have it a lot better in Switzerland… | |
| 01:56 | …than Christians do in Turkey, Mr. Bagis. | |
| 02:00 | And that also needs to be said. | |
| 02:04 | Then I have eleven reasons why we think Turkey can never… | |
| 02:08 | …become a member of the European Union. I would like to discuss those with you, | |
| 02:12 | I will not do that now because I have no time for that, but we think in any case you should insist on… | |
| 02:16 | …becoming a partner of the European Union, and never a member of the European Union. Thank you. |
2 comments:
Eggman Baggies is a clown... Given how his fellow Ayrab wannabes that act like they're not really Ayrabs, such as Recep Erdoclown and Ahmet Davutoglugluglu, throw such fits all the time, it's safe to say that Bagis's recent hair implant and stomach-stapling surgery aren't a reason why he has become more aggressive in his venom-spewing against the West or those opposing his native Anatolian Arabia. He'd still do the same even if he were obese and bald, but what's the most outrageous to me about this whole thing is to see such a primitive bedouin savage be awarded respect and statesman treatment by Western leaders, when he should be referred to in terms like those used by William Eaton to describe Bobba Mostafa, the Dey of Algiers; but, perhaps he'd then be described as a formerly huge shaggy beast using Western surgical procedures in order to try to look like a human being.
As for the apology itself, ever seen a mahoundian publicly express regret over or apologize for anything besides a bomb-vest that fails to detonate?
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