Counter-terrorism boss called DENK Muslim mouthpiece, PVV radicalizer in secret reports

For years, national counter-terrorism coordinator NCTV reported on "polarising" political parties in confidential reports to municipalities, police, Ministries, and foreign intelligence services, NRC reports based on 159 internal reports received through the Open Government (Public Access) Act. In some reports, DENK is described as a mouthpiece for Muslim fundamentalism, and the PVV is accused of contributing to radicalization.

The NCTV mentioned DENK in at least six Internet Monitoring Weekly Messages, confidential reports with which the coordinator informed other government organizations about developments surrounding extremism. In 2017, the NCTV warned that DENK promotes the idea that Muslims in the Netherlands are treated differently than non-Muslims, which "can fuel mistrust of government and potentially fuel anti-democratic tendencies."

The coordinator said that on DENK's Facebook page, "anyone who questions the way of working" is labeled as "enemy," "Zionist," or "Nazi." And it said that MP Tunahan Kuzu "implicitly" supported "Turkish government policy" by criticizing a Turkish editor who fled the country. In multiple reports, the NCTV said that Muslim fundamentalists advised followers to vote for DENK. According to the NCTV, DENK "functions as a political platform for political Salafism in parliament."

Far-right PVV also got a lot of attention. According to the NCTV, Geert Wilders's party is getting closer and closer to right-wing extremists. Where the party previously banned extremists from PVV gatherings, the party allowed them at a manifestation in Rotterdam in 2018. "With far-right activist groups, this 'acceptance' can be seen as a victory and confirmation that they are right because more and more of their ideas are apparently adopted by an established partly like the PVV," the NCTV said.

According to the coordinator, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between the extreme right and the PVV, partly because Wilders makes hashtags popular that extremist organizations subsequently adopt. In 2017, the NCTV raised concerns that Wilders was pitting "Dutch people" against "foreigners" and thereby "contributes to a breeding ground for radicalization."

Other parties like Artikel1 (now BIJ1) and FvD and leader Thierry Baudet also got brief mentions, according to the newspaper.

The NCTV's interest in politicians is a sensitive topic. The organization falls directly under the Minister of Justice and Security and may not use its powers against parliamentarians. In fact, last year, former Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus assured parliamentarians that they had never been subject to NCTV reports. He said the NCTV only followed politicians on social media to assess threats against them and that this has "nothing to do with what the politicians do or think."

The NCTV told NRC that parliament was not misinformed on this point. In order to "properly estimate" trends and phenomena, it has become "inevitable" that "public statements of relative players come into the picture," the NCTV said. So statements by "individuals" and "also politicians" were interpreted. The NCTV stressed that these weekly reports are a "product of the past." The NCTV stopped this reporting last year after NRC revealed it was collecting online information about citizens, activists, politicians, and religious leaders in violation of the law.