Joost Lagendijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌjoːst ˈlaːɣə(n)ˌdɛik]; born 8 June 1957 in Roosendaal, Netherlands) is a Dutch politician who was a columnist with the Turkish dailies Zaman and Today's Zaman until these newspapers were closed by the Turkish government.
He is a former GreenLeft (G/EFA) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and served as the joint chairman of the Turkey-EU Parliamentarians delegation.
He also founded "De Helling" (The Slope) in 1987 a magazine closely linked to the GreenLeft, he was its publisher until 1990, and one of its writers until 1994.
Lagendijk has published two books on European foreign affairs, together with Labour MEP Jan Marinus Wiersma.
As MEP Lagendijk has shown particular interest for the Balkan-region and Turkey, and especially in keeping the peace in this unstable region.
Lagendijk expected pressure by the media in Turkey to force prosecutors to drop charges.
[1] Indeed, the prosecutor declined to prosecute, referring to the Turkish constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, and the case was dropped.
Joost Lagendijk married Nevin Sungur, an award-winning journalist and reporter for the Turkish channel NTV.,[2] on 28 October 2006 by the mayor of Beyoğlu, Istanbul, in the famous Pera Palas hotel.
The reason given for the denial was that, due to "a new regulation", he needed to obtain a visa from the Turkish Embassy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.