Denk (political party)

Denk was founded by Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk after leaving the Labour Party on 13 November 2014. Their resignations were prompted by proposals by Deputy Prime Minister and party leader Lodewijk Asscher that a number of Turkish Islamist organisations be monitored for interfering with the integration of Dutch citizens of Muslim origin.{{Cite web|title=Dutch party expels two Turkish-origin lawmakers - World News|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/dutch-party-expels-two-turkish-origin-lawmakers-74351|website=Hürriyet Daily News|date=14 November 2014 }} This came after an internal party debate sparked by a report incorrectly stating that 90% of young Turkish Dutch supported ISIS.{{Cite web|title=The Netherlands' migrant parties: Representing the new Europeans - Qantara.de|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/the-netherlands-migrant-parties-representing-the-new-europeans|website=Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World|date=22 May 2019 }}{{cite news|title=Onderzoek over IS-steun Turkse jongeren deugde niet|agency=Volkskrant|url=https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/onderzoek-over-is-steun-turkse-jongeren-deugde-niet~b3be56df/|access-date=18 November 2019}} 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.{{Cite interview |url = https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/ex-pvda-ers-komen-met-nieuwe-partij-in-een-naar-geert-wilders-gevormde-wereld~b347e02e/ |website = Het Parool |language = nl |access-date = 13 January 2024 |interviewer = Marcel Wiegman |last1 = Kuzu |first1 = Tunahan |author-link1 = Tunahan Kuzu |last2 = Öztürk |first2 = Selçuk |author-link2 = Selçuk Öztürk |date = 9 February 2015 |title = Ex-PvdA'ers komen met nieuwe partij in een 'naar Geert Wilders gevormde wereld' |trans-title = Former Labour Party members introduce new party in a 'world shaped by Geert Wilders' }}

The results from the 2017 election ensured that Kuzu and Öztürk would remain in parliament together with new arrival Farid Azarkan, who was their party leader until stepping down in 2023.{{cite web | url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vm52eepx5yx8/nieuws/farid_azarkan_denk_kondigt_vertrek_uit | title=Farid Azarkan (DENK) kondigt vertrek uit politiek aan }}

The party advocates for the interests of various minorities within the Netherlands, including those of the Turkish Dutch,{{refn|{{cite web |last1=Wiegman |first1=Marcel |title=Denk vindt de Turkse stem in Amsterdam |url=https://www.parool.nl/nieuws/denk-vindt-de-turkse-stem-in-amsterdam~b6bde678/ |website=Het Parool |language=nl-NL |date=24 March 2018}}{{cite web |title=Een gelukkige Turk is niet blij met Denk |url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/column/4122851/een-gelukkige-turk-niet-blij-met-denk |website=RTL Nieuws |language=nl |date=23 March 2018}}}} Moroccan Dutch,{{refn|{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/06/04/trouwe-achterban-crisis-of-niet-a4001838|title=Denk: trouwe achterban, crisis of niet|website=NRC|date=4 June 2020 |last1=Boon |first1=Floor }}{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/l/2349926|title=Nieuwe Denk-leider Azarkan mikt op zes zetels en wil meebesturen|website=nos.nl|date=26 September 2020 }}{{Cite web|url=https://stukroodvlees.nl/denk-stemmer-progressief-en-conservatief/|title=De DENK-stemmer: progressief én conservatief?|date=22 January 2018}}}} Afro Dutch, and Dutch Muslims.{{Cite thesis |last=Blankvoort |first=Medy |url=https://hdl.handle.net/1887/68915 |title=Ethnic outbidding and the emergence of DENK in the Netherlands |date=20 March 2019 |hdl=1887/68915 |type=Masters |publisher=Leiden University}}{{better source needed|date=November 2024|reason=Per WP:SCHOLARSHIP Masters thesis aren't usually considered reliable sources.}}

The movement drew up a political manifesto in February 2015, from which the political party Denk emerged in November 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.bewegingdenk.nl/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/manifest-denk.pdf |title=Een Nieuke Politieke Beweging |publisher=Bewegingdenk.nl |access-date=2017-03-11}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bewegingdenk.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Verkiezingsprogramma_DENK_2017-2021.pdf |title=Denkend Aan Nederland |publisher=Bewegingdenk.nl |access-date=2017-03-11}}{{primary source inline|date=September 2018}}

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 labor, and they want knowledge of migration history as a key target in education. They propose that the term "integration" should be replaced by the word "acceptance". The movement would abolish the term "immigrant".{{Clarify|date=July 2024}} It notes that people with a non-western background are less likely to find a job or internship and often have negative experiences with law enforcement. The manifesto states that racism in the Netherlands is structural and institutional in nature and therefore wants a so-called "racism registry" to be set up, in which manifestations of racism are registered.{{Clarify|date=July 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The movement proposes that in education, diversity in the classroom is commensurate with the diversity of the class (including the teacher). The movement has a policy that in every school in the Netherlands, both in primary and secondary education, study of Chinese, Arabic, and Turkish must be introduced as optional subjects. According to the movement, education in these languages will be useful for the country's economy and international relations. According to the manifesto, imams should not only be appointed to mosques, but also in health care, prisons and the armed forces.

Denk's view is that the United Nations and its Security Council need fundamental reform and 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 recognize 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. 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.

The party has been described as pro-immigration{{Cite news|title=A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/world/europe/dutch-denk-party.html|work=The New York Times|date=29 July 2016}}{{Cite news|title=Ethnic minorities desert Labour, turn to Denk ahead of March vote|url=http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/02/ethnic-minorities-desert-labour-turn-to-denk-ahead-of-march-vote/|work=Dutch News|date=6 February 2017}} and supporting multiculturalism,{{cite news|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/30/world/europe/dutch-denk-party.html|title=A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands|newspaper=The New York Times |date=29 July 2016 |access-date=29 June 2018|last1=Siegal |first1=Nina }}{{cite web|url=https://policonomy.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/denk-the-long-needed-multicultural-party/|title=DENK: The Long Needed Multicultural Party?|date=25 July 2016|access-date=29 June 2018}} as well as being identified with identity politics.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/03/18/the-dutch-election-suggests-a-new-kind-of-identity-politics|title=The Dutch election suggests a new kind of identity politics|newspaper=The Economist |access-date=29 June 2018}}

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).

The party mainly attracts support from ethnic minorities in the Netherlands, especially from the Turkish and 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/03/30/uitslagenkaart-tweede-kamerverkiezingen-2017-per-stembureau-a1552512|title=Uitslagenkaart Tweede Kamerverkiezingen 2017 per stembureau|newspaper=NRC|language=nl|access-date=2020-04-26}} The majority of voters with a foreign migration background voted for Denk or BIJ1 in 2023.{{cite web | url=https://stukroodvlees.nl/de-toekomst-en-bijdragen-van-denk-en-bij1-in-de-tweede-kamer/ | title=De toekomst en bijdragen van DENK en BIJ1 in de Tweede Kamer | date=30 November 2023 }}

{{see also|Long arm of Ankara}}

The two leaders and founders of the party have been criticized for being "closely linked to the AK Party" of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and "do not criticize Erdogan and Turkish government policies". Some critics in the Dutch media have called the party the "long arm of Erdoğan" for its perceived support of the party line of the Turkish government and the ruling AK Party.{{Cite web|date=2020-04-03|title=Turkse coup in Den Haag|url=https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/columns/column/5077861/kuzu-opgestapt-relatie-ozturk-denk-machtsstrijd |website=RTL Nieuws |language=nl |access-date=2020-06-10}} The party was the sole party in the Netherlands that did not call for the release of a Turkish-Dutch blogger who was arrested for a tweet about Erdoğan.{{Cite news|title=How will Turkish Germans vote in the country's upcoming election?|url=http://www.dw.com/en/how-will-turkish-germans-vote-in-the-countrys-upcoming-election/a-40229374|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=24 August 2017}} The party has also been heavily criticized for refusing to distance itself from the purges in Turkey since 2016.{{Cite news|title=6 most eyecatching fringe parties in the Dutch election|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/6-fringe-parties-in-the-dutch-election-netherlands-denk-artikel-1-geenpeil-piratenpartij-vnl-voor-nederland-niet-stemmers/|work=Politico|date=3 February 2017}} However, as Denk's leader, Kuzu distanced himself from comments of Erdoğan in which the Turkish president called Dutch authorities "Nazi remnants and fascists",{{cite news |title=Turkey's Erdogan calls Dutch authorities 'Nazi remnants' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39242707 |access-date=20 March 2021 |work=BBC News |date=11 March 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Van Outeren |first1=Emilie |title=Kuzu neemt een beetje afstand |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/03/17/erdogan-kuzu-neemt-een-beetje-afstand-7415301-a1550726 |access-date=20 March 2021 |work=NRC Handelsblad |date=17 March 2017 |page=10 |language=nl-NL}} labelling those comments "incorrect" and "very troublesome".{{cite news |title=Denk-voorman Kuzu noemt uitspraken Erdogan 'onjuist' |url=https://www.nu.nl/algemeen/4565841/denk-voorman-kuzu-noemt-uitspraken-erdogan-onjuist.html |work=NU.nl |agency=ANP/Nu.nl |date=24 March 2017 |language=nl}}

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.{{Cite journal|last1=Öztürk|first1=Ahmet Erdi|last2=Sözeri|first2=Semiha|title=Diyanet as a Turkish Foreign Policy Tool: Evidence from the Netherlands and Bulgaria|url=https://www.academia.edu/36059631|journal=Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association|year=2018 |volume=11 |issue=3 |language=en|pages=3, 12–13, 15|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417000323/https://www.academia.edu/36059631/Diyanet_as_a_Turkish_Foreign_Policy_Tool_Evidence_from_the_Netherlands_and_Bulgaria|archive-date=17 April 2019|doi=10.1017/S175504831700075X|s2cid=148657630 }}

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.{{primary source inline|date=September 2018}} Denk was the sole party which voted against a bill recognizing the Armenian Genocide.{{cite web |title=Tweede Kamer erkent Armeense genocide |url=https://www.ad.nl/politiek/tweede-kamer-erkent-armeense-genocide~a431fcf8/ |website=ad.nl |publisher=Algemeen Dagblad |language=nl |access-date=20 May 2020}}

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.{{Cite news|last=van der Aa|first=Edwin|date=13 March 2020|title=Kamer veroordeelt Denk om intimiderende filmpjes|language=nl|work=Algemeen Dagblad|url=https://www.ad.nl/politiek/kamer-veroordeelt-denk-om-intimiderende-filmpjes~a2d28ebc/|access-date=10 June 2020}}

In the 2023 Dutch general election, three MPs from Denk were elected:{{Cite news |last=Kassam |first=Ashifa |date=2023-11-24 |title='It's scary': residents in Rotterdam reflect on Geert Wilders' election win |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/24/geert-wilders-dutch-election-win-rotterdam-scary |access-date=2023-12-05 |issn=0261-3077}}

• Ismail el Abassi
• Stephan van Baarle
• Doğukan Ergin

• List of political parties in the Netherlands
• Nuance Party
• Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening

{{Reflist}}

• {{in lang|nl}} {{Official website|https://www.bewegingdenk.nl/}}

{{Political parties in the Netherlands}}

Category:2015 establishments in the Netherlands

Category:Anti-racism in the Netherlands

Category:Identity politics

Category:Middle Eastern diaspora in the Netherlands

Category:Minority rights

Category:Multiculturalism in Europe

Category:Organisations based in Rotterdam

Category:Palestinian solidarity movement in the Netherlands

Category:Political parties established in 2015

Category:Political parties of minorities

Category:Social democratic parties in the Netherlands

Category:Social conservative parties

Category:Conservative parties in the Netherlands