Denk (political party)

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DENK (political party)
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Denk
LeaderStephan van Baarle
ChairmanEjder Köse[1]
Leader in the House
of Representatives		Stephan van Baarle
FoundersTunahan Kuzu
Selçuk Öztürk
Founded9 February 2015
Split fromLabour Party
HeadquartersLodewijk Pincoffsweg 503,Rotterdam
Youth wingJongerenbeweging Oppositie[2]
Think tankWetenschappelijk Instituut Statera[3]
Membership (2024)Increase 3,594[4]
Ideology
Minority interests
:
  • Elections

Denk (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛŋk]; Dutch for "think" and Turkish for "equal" or "balanced"[18]) is a political party in the Netherlands, founded on a minority rights platform.[19] It is legally registered as "Politieke Beweging Denk" (Political Movement Denk).[20]

The party was founded by Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk, two Turkish Dutch members of the House of Representatives, after leaving the Labour Party on 13 November 2014. Upon winning three seats at the 2017 election, Denk became the first migrant-founded party to gain seats in the Dutch national parliament.[21]

Although the party has been colloquially described as a "Muslim political party", Denk "does not promote Muslim candidates as do most similar political parties in Europe".

agnostic.[22]

The party BIJ1 was founded by Sylvana Simons when she left Denk in 2016, and the two parties overlap substantially on minority rights issues but are divergent on cultural liberal aspects (wherein Denk is more conservative).

History

Denk was founded by

ISIS.[24][25] On 9 February 2015, they named their parliamentary group "Denk", and they published a political manifesto for the establishment of a movement focused on a tolerant society through measures such as the introduction of a registry of racists who could not be hired by the government.[26]

The results from the 2017 election ensured that Kuzu and Öztürk would remain in parliament together with new arrival Farid Azarkan, who is the current party leader.

Manifesto

The movement drew up a political manifesto in February 2015, from which the political party Denk emerged in November 2016.[27][28][non-primary source needed]

The Denk programme argues for the following five points:

  • a tolerant society in which we accept each other.
  • a caring society in which we look out for each other.
  • a learning society in which we utilize everyone's talents.
  • a sustainable society where we have to think about our environment.
  • a just society, promoting international justice.

The movement wants to establish a monument in memory of labour, and they want knowledge of migration history as a key target in education. They propose that the term "

structural and institutional
in nature and therefore wants a so-called "racism registry" to be set up, in which manifestations of racism are registered.

The movement proposes that in education,

armed forces
.

Denk's view is that the

European Union should pursue an independent foreign policy. The movement wants to tackle Islamic extremism by tackling its root causes, which, according to the party, consist of hopelessness, social exclusion, and injustice. On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the party advocates that Europe strengthen the international position of Palestine and that the Netherlands recognises the State of Palestine
.

The party carries the program advanced by the International Institute for Scientific Research, based in The Hague, with the purpose of decolonization.[12] Among its policies, Denk seeks to: establish a "racism register" to track and condemn the use of hate speech against religion; build a Dutch slavery museum; abolish the black character Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete"); and ban the use of the Dutch word "Allochtoon" which it considers as derogatory towards ethnic minorities in the Netherlands.[12]

The party has been described as pro-immigration[29][18][30] and supporting multiculturalism,[31][32] as well as being identified with identity politics.[33]

Electorate

The party mainly attracts support from

Moroccan population. Correspondingly the support for Denk is the strongest in cities and towns with a significant migrant population, especially in larger cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In these cities the support for the party is concentrated in majority-minority districts, such as Nieuw-West in Amsterdam or Kanaleneiland in Utrecht, gaining between 30 and 40% of the votes in those districts.[34]

Controversy

Support for the AK Party

See also: Long arm of Ankara

The two leaders and founders of the party have been criticised for being "closely linked to the

purges in Turkey since 2016.[18] However, as Denk's leader, Kuzu distanced himself from comments of Erdoğan in which the Turkish president called Dutch authorities "Nazi remnants and fascists",[37][38] labelling those comments "incorrect" and "very troublesome".[39]

The Diyanet, a Turkish governmental unit, has allowed Denk to promote itself in Diyanet-controlled Dutch mosques. There are 146 such mosques as of 2018.[36]

The party's program for the 2017 general election, in the context of the Armenian genocide, mourns both the Turkish and the Armenian sides, while calling for an "independent international investigation". Denk claims that there is no consensus regarding the scale and cause of the tragedy, and calls for "reason and unification". Within that framework, the party does not use the term genocide.[28][non-primary source needed] Denk was the sole party which voted against a bill recognising the Armenian Genocide.[8]

Targeting Turkish Dutch politicians

In March 2020, Denk was condemned by fellow members of the House of Representatives for releasing videos of MPs of Turkish descent from other parties, in which they are portrayed, for example, as "traitors" to the Turkish-Dutch community.[40]

Elected representatives

In the 2023 Dutch general election, three MPs from Denk were elected:[41]

Electoral results

House of Representatives

Election
Lijsttrekker
 		Votes % Seats +/– Government
2017 Tunahan Kuzu 216,147 2.1 (#12)
3 / 150
 New Opposition
2021 Farid Azarkan 211,053 2.0 (#14)
3 / 150
 Steady 0 Opposition
2023 Stephan van Baarle 246,765 2.4 (#9)
3 / 150
 Steady 0 TBA

European Parliament

Election
Lijsttrekker
 		Votes % Seats +/–
2019 Ayhan Tonça 60,669 1.1 (#13)
0 / 26
 New
0 / 29
 Steady

Local

2023 provincial elections
Provincial Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Drenthe DNP 0.00 –0.25
0 / 43
 0
Flevoland DNP 0.00 –2.09
0 / 41
 –1
Friesland
 DNP 0.00 –0.17
0 / 43
 0
Gelderland DNP 0.00 –1.21
0 / 55
 0
Groningen DNP 0.00 –0.42
0 / 43
 0
Limburg DNP 0.00 –0.95
0 / 47
 0
North Brabant DNP 0.00 –1.23
0 / 55
 0
North Holland 14,711 1.24 –1.16
0 / 55
 –1
Overijssel DNP 0.00 –1.24
0 / 47
 0
South Holland 22,068 1.48 –1.25
0 / 55
 –1
Utrecht 10,356 1.59 –0.54
0 / 49
 –1
Zeeland DNP 0.00 –0.48
0 / 39
 0
Total 47,135 0,60% -1,07%
0 / 572
 -4
2022 municipal elections
Municipality Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Alkmaar DNP 0,00 –1,4
0 / 39
 0
Almere 2,033 3,13 New
1 / 45
 +1
Amersfoort 2,065 2,99 –0,41
1 / 39
 0
Amsterdam 13,039 4,01 –2,69
2 / 45
 –1
Arnhem 2,649 4,37 –0,83
2 / 39
 0
Deventer 1,336 3,2 –1,4
1 / 37
 0
Dordrecht 1,844 4,11 New
1 / 39
 +1
Eindhoven 1,432 1,84 –1,66
0 / 45
 –1
Enschede DNP 0,00 –3,7
0 / 39
 –1
Helmond 731 2,52 New
1 / 37
 +1
Lelystad 398 1,56 –2,14
0 / 35
 –1
Roermond DNP 0,00 –3,3
0 / 31
 –1
Rotterdam 15,612 7,84 +0,44
4 / 45
 0
Schiedam 3,087 11,65 –0,05
4 / 35
 0
The Hague 10,222 5,6 New
2 / 45
 +2
Utrecht 5,525 3,51 –1,39
1 / 45
 –1
Veenendaal 719 2,42 –1,58
0 / 33
 –1
Venlo 947 New New
1 / 39
 +
Vlaardingen 1,110 4,48 New
1 / 35
 +1
Zaanstad 2,540 4,59 –0,91
2 / 39
 0
Total 67,982 0,95 –0,09
25 / 8,522
 +1

See also

References

  1. ^ Website Denk Archived 17 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine, BewegingDENK.nl
  2. ^ "Jongerenbeweging OPPOSITIE". jboppositie.nl. Archived from the original on 20 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. parlement.com
    . Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2024" [Membership of Dutch political parties as of 1 January 2024]. University of Groningen (in Dutch). Documentation Centre Dutch Political Parties. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  5. ^ Wiegman, Marcel (24 March 2018). "Denk vindt de Turkse stem in Amsterdam". Het Parool (in Dutch).
  6. ^ "Een gelukkige Turk is niet blij met Denk". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 23 March 2018.
  7. ^ a b c "How will Turkish Germans vote in the country's upcoming election?". Deutsche Welle. 24 August 2017.
  8. ^ a b "Tweede Kamer erkent Armeense genocide". ad.nl (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  9. ^ Boon, Floor (4 June 2020). "Denk: trouwe achterban, crisis of niet". NRC.
  10. ^ "Nieuwe Denk-leider Azarkan mikt op zes zetels en wil meebesturen". nos.nl. 26 September 2020.
  11. ^ a b "De DENK-stemmer: progressief én conservatief?". 22 January 2018.
  12. ^
    ISBN 9780472132164
  13. hdl:1887/68915 – via studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  14. ^ "DENK wil burger heropvoeden. Waar zagen we dat eerder? - EW". EWmagazine.nl (in Dutch). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Na DENK wil Simons zich inzetten voor homorechten - EW". EWmagazine.nl. 27 December 2016.
  16. ^ "Verstandshuwelijk in het Rotterdamse stadsbestuur: 'Denk en Leefbaar delen meer dan je verwacht'". 18 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Tweede Kamer Verkiezingen: Achter de schermen bij het Kieskompas". 5 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b c d "6 most eyecatching fringe parties in the Dutch election". Politico. 3 February 2017.
  19. ^ Siegal, Nina (29 July 2016). "A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  20. ^ Kiesraad (22 April 2016). "Register - Verkiezingen - Kiesraad.nl". www.kiesraad.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  21. ^ Otjesa, Simon; Krouwel, André (2018), "Why do newcomers vote for a newcomer? Support for an immigrant party", Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45 (7), Routledge: 1
  22. ^ Van Baarle, Stephan (17 February 2018). "Integratie is een kunstmatige term" [Integration is an artificial term]. nrc.nl (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Elsje Jorritsma and Eppo König. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  23. ^ "Dutch party expels two Turkish-origin lawmakers - World News". Hürriyet Daily News. 14 November 2014.
  24. ^ "The Netherlands' migrant parties: Representing the new Europeans - Qantara.de". Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World. 22 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Onderzoek over IS-steun Turkse jongeren deugde niet". Volkskrant. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  26. ^ Kuzu, Tunahan; Öztürk, Selçuk (9 February 2015). "Ex-PvdA'ers komen met nieuwe partij in een 'naar Geert Wilders gevormde wereld'" [Former Labour Party members introduce new party in a 'world shaped by Geert Wilders']. Het Parool (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Marcel Wiegman. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  27. ^ "Een Nieuke Politieke Beweging" (PDF). Bewegingdenk.nl. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  28. ^ a b "Denkend Aan Nederland" (PDF). Bewegingdenk.nl. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  29. ^ "A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands". The New York Times. 29 July 2016.
  30. ^ "Ethnic minorities desert Labour, turn to Denk ahead of March vote". Dutch News. 6 February 2017.
  31. ^ Siegal, Nina (29 July 2016). "A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  32. ^ "DENK: The Long Needed Multicultural Party?". 25 July 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  33. ^ "The Dutch election suggests a new kind of identity politics". The Economist. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  34. ^ "Uitslagenkaart Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2017 per stembureau". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  35. ^ "Turkse coup in Den Haag". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 3 April 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  36. ^
    S2CID 148657630. Archived
    from the original on 17 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Turkey's Erdogan calls Dutch authorities 'Nazi remnants'". BBC News. 11 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  38. ^ Van Outeren, Emilie (17 March 2017). "Kuzu neemt een beetje afstand". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). p. 10. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  39. ^ "Denk-voorman Kuzu noemt uitspraken Erdogan 'onjuist'". NU.nl (in Dutch). ANP/Nu.nl. 24 March 2017.
  40. ^ van der Aa, Edwin (13 March 2020). "Kamer veroordeelt Denk om intimiderende filmpjes". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  41. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 5 December 2023.

External links
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