Freek Papineau Salm was born in 1947 as a minister’s son in Den Helder. While studying, he arrives in Amsterdam, and becomes active in a Christian fraternity. During the eighties, Salm becomes councilor for the Labour Party in Amsterdam. In 1990, he is the first district chairman of De Baarsjes and remains so until 1995. To avoid a ‘Turkish stronghold’ in the district, he wants to vacate the mosque on the Riva site, thus getting into conflict with Milli Görüş.