Poelenburg is a culturally enriched neighborhood in the Dutch city of Zaandam. Most of the population there is Turkish, and not everyone can speak Dutch. The citizens of Poelenburg use their satellite dishes to watch Turkish television, and take their cues from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the proper precautions concerning the Wuhan Coronavirus. Until Mr. Erdogan says it’s time to wear a mask — no masks! Regardless of what the infidel Dutch government says.
Many thanks to C for translating this news report, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:00 | Are people in Poelenburg following the rules? —That’s quite a question! Umm. | |
| 00:07 | Honestly. —No. | |
| 00:14 | In the Poelenburg neighborhood of Zaandam, 60% of the population is of Turkish descent. | |
| 00:20 | Until recently, the corona crisis had little effect. | |
| 00:25 | Nobody is stressing around here. —No stress? Nobody is worried? | |
| 00:29 | No, nobody! People are walking around freely, no mask, no gloves. | |
| 00:35 | Nothing! —And keeping a 1.5 meter distance? | |
| 00:39 | Yes, if you… some people do. —But most don’t? —No! | |
| 00:44 | And why not? —Nobody afraid. | |
| 00:49 | The Turkish mosque in Poelenburg has been closed down by the government. | |
| 00:53 | There is no communal Friday prayer. All Ramadan activities have been canceled. | |
| 00:59 | And the imam has recently started preaching online. | |
| 01:02 | I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in name of Allah the merciful. | |
| 01:08 | Meanwhile, life outside the mosque continues as usual. | |
| 01:13 | If I go outside, I see people in the street. | |
| 01:18 | and sometimes… until now, during the whole Corona crisis, | |
| 01:23 | I’ve seen only four people with a mask in the street. | |
| 01:27 | Why is that? —Maybe… I don’t want to judge, but maybe they don’t take it serious. | |
| 01:34 | And that has everything to do with how people here follow the news. | |
| 01:38 | In Poelenburg, people watch Turkish television, not Dutch television. | |
| 01:42 | This has consequences for how they experience the crisis, says Murat Sekercan, | |
| 01:48 | of the association of Turkish workers’ groups in the Netherlands. | |
| 01:52 | Because people don’t watch Dutch news, and do not always follow what’s going on. | |
| 01:59 | but also often think, in Turkey everybody is out in the street, | |
| 02:04 | and the Netherlands is taking measures, is that really necessary? So they question that. | |
| 02:11 | So they’re more likely to trust the government in their country of origin | |
| 02:15 | than Rutte III [current Dutch government]. | |
| 02:19 | In Turkey the coronavirus struck later, | |
| 02:22 | and initially the rules were not as strict as in the Netherlands. | |
| 02:26 | This was noticeable in Poelenburg. This shop here was terribly busy. And it’s a small shop, | |
| 02:34 | so you can’t keep 1.5m distance. | |
| 02:39 | Some don’t understand or speak the Dutch language, so some people don’t understand it. | |
| 02:45 | And the consequence? —That many people are in the streets, | |
| 02:50 | and sit on the grass in large groups, which shouldn’t happen. | |
| 02:56 | The mosque called on the faithful in a video to respect the Dutch rules. | |
| 03:04 | What each of us should do, is to heed the warnings of the authorities. | |
| 03:10 | and follow their instructions with great care. | |
| 03:14 | The city council closed down playgrounds. | |
| 03:17 | so that youngsters couldn’t hang around here anymore. | |
| 03:20 | This achieved little. | |
| 03:24 | And then Turkey imposed measures as well. | |
| 03:27 | The look of Poelenburg changed in an instant. | |
| 03:31 | Since strict measures were imposed in Turkey, this became visible in this neighborhood. | |
| 03:38 | You see people being more weary; | |
| 03:42 | they’re taking the 1.5m distance seriously, and don’t shake hands anymore, | |
| 03:47 | or in any case, less. —Yes. So, people do listen, when Erdogan speaks. —Yes. | |
| 03:53 | When Erdogan says something, it’s considered the truth. | |
| 03:57 | When [Dutch PM] Rutte says it, they’re sceptical. | |
| 04:00 | That’s the general attitude. Turkey now has a stricter [lockdown] policy than the Netherlands. | |
| 04:06 | So, now the Turks in Poelenburg find the Dutch people too reckless. | |
| 04:11 | In Turkey, I saw this on the news yesterday, | |
| 04:15 | a few hundred… 500km, police everywhere. | |
| 04:22 | Police in every street. But here, nothing! | |
| 04:25 | Here it’s nice and free! It’d be better if everybody wears a mask. | |
| 04:33 | Because this is not cool. —People don’t do that in the Netherlands, wear masks? | |
| 04:36 | Almost nobody, no. | |
| 04:39 | Maybe they have their own medicine, I don’t know. | |
| 04:43 | How do you feel about that? —It’s a shame, it’s too bad, I pity those people. | |
| 04:48 | [in broken Dutch] People don’t use. No, they all look at me, talk about me, | |
| 04:55 | because I have a mask and gloves. | |
| 05:01 | How do you feel about that, that people don’t do this? | |
| 05:04 | I think they’re strange people, if you act like that. | |
| 05:07 | It took a while. But, thanks the Turkish government’s policies. | |
| 05:11 | the people of Poelenburg respect the rules now, and the streets are quiet. | |
| 05:17 | It’s a bit strange, but it means of course that there’s no integration. | |
| 05:22 | It’s a kind of Little Ankara; it’s not the Netherlands. |
These type settlements are all across Western Europe . Any arms, ammo or chemical dumps discovered yet? Muslims do not integrate. Read the Corona. Observe the violence, rape, plunder. The obnoxious posing. Guard is well and truly down.