Officials in Lelystad expect around 1,000 Turkish nationals will take part in a demonstration against social services’ policies on fostering, news agency ANP said on Wednesday.

The demonstration is set to take place on Thursday morning, coinciding with a visit to the Netherlands by Turkish prime minister Recep Tavyip Erdogan.

Officials say the demo will take place in front of the town hall and the expected crowd may be addressed by local mayor Margreet Horselenberg.

The organisers have used Facebook to call on people to come to Lelystad in protest at the practice of allowing Turkish-Dutch children to be fostered by gay couples or families who are not Muslim. Flevoland’s child social services department is located in Lelystad.

The issue centres on a nine-year-old boy called Yunus who has been cared for by a lesbian couple since he was a baby. Although his older brothers are back with their mother, the authorities have ruled the younger boy should stay with his foster family.

The family have gone into hiding to escape the media attention.