The Hague: Mosque vandalized

A mosque in the Dutch port city of The Hague has been vandalized late Friday.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the act of vandalism, in which a Turkish flag was crossed with red paint with slogans against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also written on it.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Sinasi Koc, the head of Ahi Evran Mosque, which is currently under construction and belongs to the Islamic Foundation in the Netherlands, condemned the attack.

Koc said the attack was probably related to Turkey’s ongoing Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin.

“There are those who do not want our unity and solidarity, and those who want to bring disorder to us. They will not succeed, for Allah is with us,” Koc said.

Since Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on January 20 to rid Afrin, northwestern Syria, of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party in Syria (PYD), the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), there have been numerous attacks on mosques across Europe by PYD/PKK supporting groups.

According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as protect Syrians from oppression and cruelty.

In Rotterdam, supporters of the PYD/PKK organisation attacked Turkish demonstrators, an Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene reported.

The supporters, who were holding banners at the market hall, also attacked reporters, not allowing them to take footage.

Europe has experienced a growing number of protests and violence from PYD/PKK supporters since the group launched a campaign two weeks ago to protest Turkey’s operation.