Think (party)

THINK
Party leader	Farid Azarkan
Party leader	Selçuk Öztürk
Group Chairman, Second Chamber	Farid Azarkan
founding	February 9, 2015
Alignment	Identity politics multiculturalism social democracy
Sit in the First Chamber	0/75
Sit in the second chamber	3/150
Seats in the European Parliament	0/26
Number of members	3678 (January 1, 2019)
www.mobilingdenk.nl

DENK or the thinking movement ( Dutch Moving DENK , Denk is Dutch for German  "think" and Turkish for "equal" ) is a small party in the Netherlands . According to its own statements, it is aimed at all Dutch people, but positions itself as a party of (Muslim) immigrants; It is mainly chosen by people of Turkish origin. Around 400,000 people with roots in Turkey live in the Netherlands.

It was founded by Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk , two Turkish-born MPs in the Second Chamber of the States General , after they left the Social Democratic Labor Party (PvdA) on November 13, 2014 . On February 9, 2015, they named their group or faction DENK and published a political manifesto for the establishment of a movement for migrants and for a “tolerant and solidary society” which, among other things, calls for a register for racism.

Election to the second chamber in 2017

In the program for the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands 2017 , in connection with the Armenian question, ie the Turkish-Ottoman genocide of the Armenians , the suffering of both the Turkish and the Armenian side is mourned and at the same time an "independent international investigation" is called for, as it " no consensus ”for the crime of genocide .

Kuzu appears confrontational ; For example, he said that he had evidence that "the plug is pulled faster" in the case of seriously ill older people with foreign roots. Denk is accused of explicitly denouncing the voting behavior of MPs with a migration background. For example, Denk called for a roll-call vote in the parliamentary vote on the Armenian genocide . Denk then published a video showing the members of parliament of Turkish origin with their names and photos if they voted yes. Chamber chair Khadija Arib sharply criticized the video and called Denk's behavior as a chamber member unworthy.

Denk is in favor of a racism register, which is supposed to show relevant misconduct by authorities, for the recognition of Palestine as a state by the Netherlands and for the withdrawal of certain Dutch investments from Israel . On various occasions, the party is attested to be close to the Turkish government under Erdoğan .

In the 2017 parliamentary elections, Denk achieved a share of 2.1% of the vote and entered the second chamber with three members. At the beginning of April 2020, a fierce internal controversy between Öztürk and Kuzu about the direction of the party became known, which ultimately resulted in Kuzu's resignation as party leader. Kuzu accused his party colleagues of "political fratricide" in an open letter.

Members

After the founding of the party, the number of members rose rapidly in the first two years. Since then the number has only grown marginally.

year	Number of members
2016	1055
2017	3425
2018	3488
2019	3678

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b} DENK ledentallen per jaar (2016-). In: Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen. University of Groningen , February 12, 2019, accessed on February 23, 2019 (Dutch). 
2. ↑ nytimes.com: "A Pro-Immigrant Party Rises in the Netherlands" ( English ) , accessed on 13 March 2017th
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ ^{a b} p. 57 Elective program
5. ↑ Klaus Max Smolka on FAZ.net: Wilders focuses on the Netherlands. January 10, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017
6. ^ Movingdenk.nl - Political Manifesto of DENK. Retrieved March 16, 2017
7. ↑ faz.net: What happens if Wilders wins?
8. ↑ Thijs Niemantsverdriet: Think: profileer je als slachtoffer en sla hard terug. April 29, 2016, accessed March 16, 2017 (Dutch). 
9. ↑ Emile Kossen: Kamervoorzitter Arib overhoop met DENK: 'Video's zijn Kamerlid onwaardig'. (No longer available online.) June 28, 2016, archived from the original on March 17, 2017 ; Retrieved March 16, 2017 (Dutch). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Many Jews are afraid. jungle.world, March 8, 2017
11. ↑ Thomas Kirchner: Die Rassistenjäger www.sueddeutsche.de, June 20, 2016
12. ↑ Kuzu (DENK) accuses 'strijdmakker' Özturk van 'politieke broedermoord'. April 6, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 (Dutch).