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| Photo Credit: Sebati Karakurt / HÜRRİYET |
Joost Lagendijk, the former co-chair of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and Today’s Zaman columnist, was denied entry to Turkey on Sept. 25 after his flight from the Netherlands landed at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport.
Lagendijk’s entry was blocked by the Turkish authorities, who said he should have received a Turkish visa from the Turkish Embassy in the Netherlands before his visit.
“Turk authorities stopped me on my return from Neth at Sabiha Gökcen airport. I am not allowed in. Send back to Neth on 8.30 flight. Need to apply for a special visa at Turk embassy in Neth. Hope it is only a bureaucratic obstacle and not a decision to block me forever,” Lagendijk wrote in a tweet posted upon his arrival in Istanbul.
Dutch citizen Lagendijk has been living in Turkey since 2009 and is married to a Turkish citizen. He used to write a column for the now-closed English-language Today’s Zaman newspaper, affiliated with the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, which is believed to be behind Turkey’s July 15 military coup attempt.
