Zuhal Demir, Minister of State for Equal Rights and Combating Poverty in the Flemish Regional Government in Belgium, called on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to cancel dual citizenship or the right to vote after Belgium received high votes in the first round of the presidential election in Turkey.
Demir, a member of the nationalist conservative Flemish N-VA Party, criticized the high rate of votes cast for President Erdoğan from Belgium in the General Elections for President and 28th Term Member of Parliament in Turkey on 14 May in a television program he participated in.
Zuhal Demir also shared on his Twitter account, “Erdogan is much more popular in the Flemish region than in Turkey. He got 72 percent of the vote. European Turks are doing some kind of election doping. The only way to stop the brainwashing of Turks in the Flemish region is to vote for Erdogan, it’s impossible.” is to make.” used his statements.
Demir called for “removing dual citizenship or reducing it to a symbolic form that does not recognize the right to vote”.
Belgium became the European country where the most votes were cast against President Erdogan and the AK Party. This support was also frequently reported by the local press.
Belgian press saw Demir’s call with the headline “Erdogan’s popularity in Belgium triggered the N-VA’s call to abolish dual citizenship”.
Born in Belgium, the daughter of an immigrant family, Demir came to the fore in 2016 with the words that she was against dual citizenship. Demir renounced his Turkish citizenship in 2017.
Demir, who was often criticized for her words of being anti-immigrant and advocating the headscarf ban, had previously attracted attention with her participation in events organized by the terrorist organization PKK. Demir claimed that he had no sympathy for the PKK upon the news.