Erdoğan criticizes Rutte over same-sex foster care of Turkish kids

HAGUE - Anatolia News Agency

Prime Minister Erdoğan (L) meets with his Dutch counterpart Rutte. The issue of nine-year-old Yunus overshadowed talks between premiers. AP photo

Homosexuality, a “sexual preference,” is contrary to the culture of Islam, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said March 21, referring to the case of nine-year-old Yunus who was adopted as a baby by a lesbian couple in the Netherlands.

“We should hand over Yunus to secure hands. If we say ‘a six-month child cannot make such a decision so it is the judiciary who decides,’ then this could lead to us to a big mistake,” Erdoğan told reporters in a joint press conference with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte. 

Nine-year-old Turkish boy Yunus, who is a Dutch citizen, was adopted by the Hague-based couple when he was a baby, but his biological mother told Dutch public broadcaster NOS that she wanted him back.

Erdoğan also called on non-governmental organizations (NGO) to get involved in the issue to solve the problem. 

$15 billion target

For his part, Rutte said the issue was the Netherlands’ internal problem and that he was against the issue being discussed at ministerial level. 

Turkey has embarked on a campaign to retrieve children of Turkish immigrant families living in Europe who are fostered by foreigners. It says they should instead be placed in homes where their cultural identity can be preserved.

On economy, Erdoğan said that they wished to raise Turkish-Dutch trade volume to $15 billion by 2015. “Our trade volume with the Netherlands is $7 billion. We would like to raise it to $15 billion by 2015,” Erdoğan said.