Turkish Dutch: that this really happens

Fatih (25) and his friend (26) looking at the screen at the Kebab Factory, a large restaurant under the Ulu Mosque in Utrecht.

The blue-illuminated minarets these are also night in a large part of the city visible. Friends are nervous. Just before they went to the evening prayer, they heard rumors about a possible coup. The men have a Turkish background, and what happens in their home country is important to them. "We look every day to the Turkish news. At this moment we have to wait quietly. We stand behind our president. "

Family Fatih flew to Istanbul today. "I do not know if he is already there. I can not reach him. I do not know if he can land. "

It is not a football match

In the Turkish Kebab Factory have ten men gathered around the digital TV that hangs on the red-painted wall. They are special because the news tonight.

They drink energy drinks, eating baklava, outside smoking a cigarette. They look alternately at the TV screen and to their phone. So here often go, but tonight they are moving faster than normal. "It is not a football game, because it is serious, but the tension feels the same," said one of them. They agree on one thing: Erdogan must continue.

On the television screen, people come together around the airport in Istanbul. They react according to the men's call Erdogan to stop the coup, to show that they stand behind him.

Hakan (40) sunglasses in his hair, there's just stand by, "Goddamn that this is really happening."

Jamal Cenalcanik (55): "Soldiers have tried."

Hakan, almost angrily: "We do not yet know if it worked. It's no joke. This is very serious. "

Hakan just called his brother, who lives in the Black Sea. "He says that everyone is out with flags and everything. Erdogan is simply supported "Jamal Cenalcanik (55)." You bet that there will be two hours fifty, sixty million Turks on the street. "

"We have to do something '

Via WhatsApp told the men that friends in Rotterdam to the streets to show their support to Erdogan. The bulk of the Turkish Dutch support Erdogan. Fatih "Maybe I'm going too. We must do something. "

About the possible reason behind this coup is a lot of confusion. Hakan: "This should be a map of Europe. They may not Erdogan. It should just sit another power behind. "

Jamal (32), which also goes to the mosque here has a Moroccan background, but is also nervous about the TV. "Erdogan is a popular man. He does what the people want. He was democratically elected. You can not just dismiss someone with a minority. What happens now, simply should not. Otherwise your voice valued as anything. "

The men do not have the patience to sit here. Hakan: "We go to the streets. See how it goes. "Only the sellers remain. Running back and forth between the TV and the cash register. "I can not even speak Dutch. This is important. Just wait and see."

By: NRC Editorial Photo: REUTERS / Huseyin Aldemir