Interview to Nurgül

Nurgül is a Dutch student who came to the Seminar and who can tell us about both freedom of speech in the Netherlands and Turkey. She would like to study Politics and we have had the pleasure to interview her.

• What is your story? How did you arrive to Europe?

My grandparents went to Europe to work a couple of years, and they brought my mother who met my father in Turkey. After that, they settled down in The Hague and we live here since then.

• What is your opinion about the situation of your country?

In the Netherlands I love the politics. They are open to the people: I can walk to the Parliament, sit and see everything the politicians say. I love that transparency. However, the big question in Dutch society is if freedom of speech should tolerate the hatred of Geert Wilders, for example, whose racist statements have taken him to court.
In Turkey, people are afraid of the Government. Politics are just crazy. There's no freedom of speech anymore. Opposition journalists are afraid of Erdogan's repression. The big question in Turkey for the people is if the opposition should say anything. So, see the big difference!

• How was to live all the tension of the coup d'état?

I was going in Turkey during summer break and the coup was taking place the day I arrived in Turkey. It was very scaring because no one knew what was happening. We didn't know if they were doing wrong or right as we were in the plane and we could not turn on a TV. The pilot said "keep calm and obey my orders" because he didn't know neither what was going on. We took a train and a bus after taking land and the bus was trapped by the army. They said that they weren't going to harm anyone if we didn't try to harm them, but it was scaring. Istanbul and Ankara were in chaos because people were told to go home and wait but they got out to the streets. We then returned home and since then I have heard lots of conspiracy theories about the coup as that it was Erdogan who promoted it, but I don't think so.

• Do Turkish people trust the newspapers, or do they have another source of information?

Journalists are afraid of Erdogan's repression and they don't write against him, so it is very difficult to get news that do not support him. So, pro-Erdogan people believe the news but not anti-Erdogan Turks.

• What can you tell us about racism in the Netherlands? And what about in Turkey?

In the Netherlands we have two kinds of racism: from the Turks to the Dutch and vice versa. There are Dutch people who say "every Turkish person...", but also the other way round and that is racism too. My boyfriend is Dutch, and Turks say me "how do you dare?" As if I was committing a crime or something. However, I get the same kind of questions from Dutch people.