The extreme-right party Vlaams Belang is proposing a bill that will strip anyone who does their military service in the army of a country that belongs to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation of their Belgian citizenship.
Vlaams Belang party leader Tom Van Grieken pointed out that Turkey's recent invasion of Syria provoked international horror as well as great outrage in Belgium, but according to Vlaams Belang this is not the case for all Belgians. Many citizens have both the Belgian and Turkish nationality, which, according to the party, leads to a conflict of interests, reports Het Laatste Nieuws.
The Belgian Football Association has started an investigation on Monday into the youth football team from Beringen, Turkse FC, that recorded a video of the team members giving a military salute. "It is clear that the dual nationality leads to conflicts of interest, and it is time to get rid of it. Vlaams Belang wants to take the lead," said parliamentary group leader Barbara Pas, reports Het Nieuwsblad.
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"Anyone who goes to fight for an army of a country whose values are diametrically opposed to ours, must lose their Belgian citizenship," said Van Grieken to Het Laatste Nieuws. Anyone who supports an armed force belonging to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which has 57 member states in Africa, Asia, Europe and South-America, must be deprived of the Belgian nationality, according to the party.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
