THE HAGUE, 02/02/07 - Foreign Minister Ben Bot is convinced that the Turkish government was not involved in the distribution of an email calling on Turks in the Netherlands to vote for centre-left D66 MP Fatma Koser Kaya in the 22 November general elections.

TV programme NOVA reported in December that the Turkish government called on Turks in the Netherlands via e-mail to vote for Koser Kaya, who is of Turkish origin. According to NOVA, an e-mail bombardment was sent one day before the elections to Turkish organisations in the Netherlands from the Turkish general affairs ministry, by an advisor of the Turkish Religious Affairs Minister.

The e-mail called on the electorate to vote for Koser Kaya because D66 "is the only party that does not recognise the Armenian question as genocide," NOVA reported. Apparently, the email was successful, as Koser Kaya was the only one of the 150 MPs elected thanks to preference votes.

Following the allegations, Bot requested clarification from Turkey. Yesterday he wrote in reply to questions from conservative (VVD) MP Hans van Baalen that the author of the email must have been a Turk living in the Netherlands, who used an American internet forum. The Turkish government has guaranteed that it was not responsible for the email campaign, although it will investigate the matter further, stated Bot.