A last minute press-conference called at lunchtime Monday by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was used to announce the resignation of housing minister Mehmet Kaplan.
The former Green party minister, who has long traded political capital on his self-proclaimed feminist values and anti-racism campaigning was forced to step down today after a series of revelations about his radical private views and associations.
Breitbart London reported last week on the leak of a series of photographs showing Mr. Kaplan having dinner with members of a radical Islamist, Turkish-supremacist group known as the Grey Wolves. Described as ‘neo-Fascist’ and thought to be responsible for hundreds of political murders in recent decades, Mehmet Kaplan denied he had chosen to break bread with them.
Now a further leak to the press has revealed his extremist views on Jews. The footage from a political meeting in 2009 shows Mr. Kaplan ranting against Israel, and comparing the nation to Nazi Germany.
Sitting at a table with an “anti-discrimination” campaigner and a priest, among others, Mr. Kaplan told the assembled: “Israelis today treats Palestinians in the very same way as the Germany treated the Jews during the 1930s”, reports Svenska Dagbladet.
Speaking at today’s press conference, PM Löfven said: “I have today received Mehmet Kaplan’s resignation as minister. I have granted his request”.
Following the PM, Mr. Kaplan made his own remarks, stating: “We have arrived at a situation where what I stand for has been challenged and stands in the way of [me doing my job]. Therefore I have chosen to step aside.
“This is not a confirmation of the [accusations] against me, that I consider to be incorrect. I know who I am and what I stand for.”
Rumours that Mr. Kaplan would stand down today spread after the revelation that he and Green party spokesman Gustav Fridolin had cancelled all speaking engagements today, and that the Prime Minister had called a press conference. Speaking after the resignation of Mr. Kaplan, spokesman Mr. Fridolin called his comments on Israel “unfortunate” but insisted he stood by earlier comments that his colleague was a genuine believer in human rights.
Mr. Kaplan’s links to radical extremists have long been in question. As well as having been photographed eating with the Turkish extremist group leader, he was also seen eating with activist Barbaros Leylani. Mr. Leylani this month was recorded at a public meeting in Stockholm telling supporters: “Turkey awake!
“The Armenian dogs should beware. Death to the Armenian dogs!”
In 2014, a former member of parliament called him an “Islamist” with a “hidden agenda” and said his appointment to the government was a boon to radicals in the country. Writing in a leading Swedish newspaper, the politician, herself of Turkish origin, said his appointment has “sent a clear signal to Sweden’s Muslims that the Islamists now have the support of the Swedish establishment”.
Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: Follow @Oliver_Lane or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.com
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