Germany’s president, visiting Turkey, said Turkish immigrants were a good influence but urged newcomers to “integrate responsibly”.
Wulff addressed Turkish lawmakers at the parliament in capital Ankara, saying Turkey was a major asset for Europe as a bridge between the East and the West.
“Many people of Turkish origin have established roots in Germany … many have become German citizens. That is a good sign. I would encourage everyone to integrate responsibly,” Christian Wulff said on Tuesday.
“Committed to the West with an active and stability-building policy in the East and as a bridge between the East and the West, Turkey is a great asset for Europe,” Wulff said.
The German president stated that his country monitored closely a recent overhaul of parts of Turkey’s constitution in a referendum, saying “Turkey has moved closer to standards of the European Union by adopting these reforms. I would like to support and encourage you to move ahead on this path.”
“I believe that Turkey has a great opportunity to show that Islam did not contradict with democracy, the rule of law and pluralism. Turkey reconciles a vibrant Islam with a modern democracy. Turkey looks on both the East and the West. Germany specifically supports the continuation of Turkey’s march on the path to the EU. We are committed to the decision that Turkey’s open-ended negotiations with EU be pursued fairly and expect Turkey to fulfill its own obligations,” Wulff said.
Wulff noted that Muslims in Germany are “free to practice their religious duties”, which he said was confirmed by the growing number of mosques in the country.
“We believe that Christian living in Muslim nations also have the same right to live their religions freely. We believe that they must be able to build their churches and train their religious clerks. We believe that people in Turkey and in Germany and in any other country should be granted equal rights and opportunities regardless of their religious backgrounds. We see that Christianity has a long past in Turkey. Christianity obviously belongs to Turkey, too,” Wulff said.
Wulff said he welcomed the growing number of Turkish people who supported the opening of new churches and the conducting of services there.
Merkel, who is under pressure from the conservative wing of her Christian Democratic Union, said this weekend Germany’s bid to create a multicultural society had “utterly failed”.
Earlier this month, following the resignation of central banker Thilo Sarrazin after making blunt comments about Muslims and Jews, Wulff urged Germany to accept its four million Muslims as part of society.
Wulff said then, “Islam belongs to Germany” and echoed that by saying “Christianity belongs to Turkey”.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to expand rights for religious minorities to meet the standards of the European Union.
President Abdullah Gul met Wulff earlier on Tuesday and thanked him for supporting Germany’s Muslims and backed his calls for newcomers to Germany to integrate.
“It is a duty for all of us to ensure every citizen speaks the language of the country they reside in fluently,” Gul said. “The use of integration issues for political capital should be avoided, everybody must contribute to a solution instead.”
President Abdullah Gül has said Turkey would become stronger with a powerful economy, a better democracy and higher legal standards, and that a strong Turkey would be to the benefit of the world, Europe and its neighbors.
Hayrünnisa Gül (L) and Bettina Wulff, the wife of the German president, visited Kayseri’s historic sites.
Attending the Turkish-German Economy Forum on Wednesday in Kayseri, Central Anatolia, with German President Christian Wulff, Gül commenced his speech by welcoming the guests. “It is my pleasure to welcome you to the city in which I was born,” he said.The president said Wulff’s visit adds a fresh impetus to the already-good relations between the two nations, particularly mentioning the role of over 3 million Turks in Germany as a bridge between the two peoples.
He said Turks show their fidelity to Germany by integrating into its society while at the same time protecting their Muslim-Turkish identity.
He recalled Germany’s past support for Turkey’s membership process to the European Union and asked the “engine of the EU” to continue supporting Turkey’s case. The Turkish president also spoke about the recent success of the Turkish economy and a number of structural reforms that secured the country from the effects of last year’s global economic crisis while pushing Turkey’s economy to new heights.
“Trade volume between Turkey and Germany exceeded $30 billion in 2008, but our exports fell as European markets sustained heavy damage from the economic crisis,” Gül said. If Turkey joins the EU, it will have a share in the current pie of wealth, he noted, adding that Turkey will first increase the size of the pie and then take its share.
Wulff meets with civil society leaders
German President Wulff, on an official visit to Turkey amidst a heated debate over the integration of Germany’s immigrant communities into German society, convened with representatives of some of Turkey’s major civil society organizations over breakfast.
Osman Güner from the Anatolian Culture Association, Ayhan Bilgen from the Civil Society Development Center, Halime Güner from the Flying Broom, Human Rights Joint Platform (İHOP) General Coordinator Feray Salman and Alevi-Bektaşi Federation President Ali Balkız exchanged opinions with the German president during a one-and-a-half-hour-long meeting.
Wulff mainly listened to the participants, taking frequent notes during the meeting, which mainly revolved around the topic of Turkey’s democratization process.
The president was particularly interested in the mandatory courses on religion at the primary and high school levels as well as problems faced by Alevis on this issue. He was also curious about how an Alevi dede (religious leader) is trained.
In the meantime, Turkey’s first lady, Hayrünnisa Gül, accompanied Bettina Wulff, the wife of the German president, on a tour of Kayseri’s historic sites. The two women first visited the Bürüngüz Mosque before heading to the ages-old covered market. The two women briefly spoke with tradesmen in the bazaar while shopping.
One tradesman presented a shawl and a piece of traditional muslin to each woman. Another vendor in the market offered Gül and Wulff some Turkish delight. They later visited a nursing home and spoke with the elderly residents living there.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Tuesday urged politicians in Germany not to exploit the issue of immigration for political gain and said they should instead help Turks better integrate.
Gul was speaking at a joint news conference with German President Christian Wulff who is paying a five-day visit to Turkey as his country’s increasingly debates the integration of millions of foreigners.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said over the weekend her country’s attempts to build a multicultural society had “utterly failed.” While immigrants were welcome in Germany, they must learn the language and accept the country’s cultural norms, she said, voicing a belief heard increasingly across Europe as it battles an economic slump and worries about terrorism.
“Instead of using the issue of integration politically, everyone must help reach a solution,” Gul said.
Gul said Turks living in Germany should learn to speak German “for their own sakes, for the sake of their families, and so that they may be of use for their environment and society.”
The Turkish president said however, both Germany and Turkey had failed to provide sufficient guidance to Turkish immigrants, many of whom went to Germany as “guest workers” in the 1960s to provide manpower for Germany industry as it was rebuilding after World War II.
“We should not blame them,” he said. “Many went to German cities (from Turkish villages) without even having seen a Turkish city. Neither we nor you were able to provide the necessary leadership.”
Wulff said that many immigrants had successfully integrated in Germany but said Germans’ fears over “religious fundamentalism and terrorism” cannot be ignored.
He said immigrants had to learn German from a “very early age.”
“They have to integrate into the German lifestyle, they must show respect to German society,” he said.
Before his arrival, Wulff sparked a debate in Germany by saying “Islam now also belongs to Germany” in his speech marking 20 years of German reunification.
Germany is home to an estimated 5 million Muslims, including some 3 million Turks.
Many immigrants speak little or no German, work in low paying jobs or live off of government handouts at the same time the country faces an aging population and a shortage of highly skilled workers.
Two regional websites for Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democrats (CDU) were hacked on Tuesday by unknown perpetrators claiming to be Turkish following controversial comments by her conservatives on immigration.
Police and domestic intelligence agencies are now investigating in both the city-state of Hamburg and the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after CDU officials said their party sites were paralysed overnight when hackers replaced their homepages with a black background featuring a Turkish crest and critical comments.
Hackers “GHoST61” and “Emre Y” had left their mark claiming responsibility for sabotaging the site, with the comment, “Hi Hamburg: We are from Turkey.”
In Hamburg the CDU took its website offline by mid-morning on Tuesday, spokesperson Anna Christina Hinze said.
The Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian arm of the CDU had a similar experience, discovering that their website had been replaced with an Ottoman Empire crest and some pointed questions about the party’s immigration policies. Their site was repaired by afternoon.
The hackers left a message asking: “Where is the money for integration? Where is the money for mosques?” and “Where is the tolerance? Where is the freedom of religion?“
The cyber-attacks appear to have been sparked by anti-immigrant statements from conservatives such as Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer, who said last week that Germany should halt immigration from Turkey and Arabic countries. Over the weekend he also said that multiculturalism was dead in Germany. Chancellor Merkel agreed the concept had “completely failed” and demanded immigrants accept “Christian values” when they come to Germany.
At the end of the hacker missive they wrote, “Mrs. Merkel, we await you in Hamburg,” – a possible reference to Merkel’s plans to visit integration projects in the city in early November.
The chancellor’s parliamentary district is in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In early 2008, hackers made a similar attack on the state of Schleswig-Holstein’s CDU website, putting Turkish flags and slogans on several local party chapter pages. The IP address was traced to Ankara, Turkey.
A chara, – I can see no reason why your editorial of September 10th on Turkey’s domestic politics should have been so fixated on the 1980 coup.
It fails to reflect the deep and lasting changes that have taken place in Turkey, transforming the country into one of the largest democracies in the world and an important member of the G20.
The editorial contains too many worn-out cliches, unbefitting this paper’s well-appreciated intellectual rigour and evasion of shoddy, opinionated handling of important issues.
Certainly, if Turkey is a negotiating country for full membership of the EU, it is because it has already fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria.
Surely the EU would not have opened the negotiations for accession if the Kurds were oppressed in the way you make it sound. Indeed, the expanding process of democratisation, as witnessed by the referendum last Sunday, and the vibrancy of that whole process, do not come out neither in sense nor in style.
With recurrent references to an entirely different era, your readers are led to believe that the Turks somehow continue to live suspended in time.
Turkey left that era behind at about the same time when European nations, in the west and in the east of the continent, grasped the chance to fully embrace democracy.
Some 77 per cent of Turkish voters participated in last Sunday’s referendum. Indeed, Turks have been traditionally enjoying probably the highest voter turnouts, while European nations, including Ireland, send deputies to the European Parliament with participation rates that seldom exceed a paltry 40 per cent.
Democracy is not solely about participation rates, I agree, but an editorial of this sort should not have allowed itself to be captured by so powerful an undercurrent of anachronism.
– Is mise,
ALTAY CENGIZER, Ambassador of Turkey, Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
As tensions with Turkey grow, Israel bolsters ties with neighboring Greece. Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas says friendship between two nations can only get stronger
Itamar Eichner
The relationship between Israel and Greece at this time can be described as a love affair. After a long period of cool relations, accompanied by harsh criticism of Israel, a new era has begun under the leadership of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. The reason for the rapprochement, and for the warm Israeli ties with Cyprus as well, has to do with the grave crisis in Israel-Turkey ties – with Ankara being a longtime rival of the two island states.
The love affair pertains to almost every aspect. Israeli tourists who abandoned Turkish resorts discovered Greece and saved the locals from the damages of the grave economic crisis. Meanwhile, Israeli and Greek gunships engaged in a joint maneuver last week, possibly as a hint to Turkish PM Erdogan, who put an end to such Israeli-Turkish cooperation. On another front, talks are underway on a future gas pipelines from Israel to Europe that would pass through Greece.
A multitude of ventures. Droutsas and Lieberman (Photo: AP)
In recent weeks, Greek media outlets have reported at length about the dramatic improvement in ties between the two countries. A Greek military source said that Israel is mostly interested in aviation cooperation, while the Greeks expected to receive defense technologies and embark on joint projects to develop defense systems.
In August, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Greece as PM Papandreou’s guest, and last week a senior Greek delegation visited Israel in order to identify areas for cooperation. In an unusual move, delegation members met with PM Netanyahu, as well as other senior officials.
In another development highlighting the current idyll, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas landed in Israel Sunday for a two-day visit. Among other things, he was expected to sign a new aviation cooperation agreement with his counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman.
Strategic interests
Ties between the two nations were never cold and have been conflict-free, despite their long history, Droutsas told Yedioth Ahronoth in a special interview, adding that the current Greek government intends to bolster the renewed tied further.
When asked if Turkey should be concerned, Droutsas said that the cooperation between Jerusalem and Athens would never go against any other nation. On the contrary, he said, “One of the main parameters here is to stabilize the entire region. The Middle East is of vital interest for Greece.” Athens, he added, wishes to cultivate peaceful and neighborly relations in the region, which could only benefit its prosperity.
Israel and Greece share political, economic, cultural and defense ties, he continued, and also to create strategic ties which would span all areas equally. “One thing is very clear – Israel is a pioneering nation when it comes to high-tech and we would be thrilled if such cooperation proved fruitful.”
As for the rumored Israeli-Greek gas line, Droutsas said that energy, in any form, is of great significance to Greece and Europe, and naturally – for Israel as well. Nevertheless, he qualified, it is still too early to discuss specific plans.
The Greek economy has been slowly recovering from one of the worst recessions in its history, and the gradual process – and underlying potential – has not escaped the attention of Israeli investors, who are eying Greek investments. According to Droutsas, the biggest potential currently lies in the tourism and renewable energy industries and the government in doing its best to attract foreign investors.
The deepening crisis between Israel and Turkey had a resounding effect on the Turkish tourism industry, as tension between the two leading Israelis to practically abandon their once-favorite vacation destination, in favor of nearby Greece.
“There is a very impressive 60% growth in tourism from Israel. If in 2009 155,000 Israelis visited us, in 2010, so far, we’ve had over 250,000. We are delighted and flattered that Israelis prefer Greece now, and we hope it will not be a fleeting phenomenon, but one that keeps growing,” Droutsas said.
Greece’s beauty, he added, is one that takes a lifetime to experience. “Israelis should know that we welcome them. We want to cultivate these ties, because a touristic link is also a cultural one between our people,” he said.
‘We understand Israel’s concerns’
But what about Turkey’s new affinity to Iran? According to the Greek FM, while naturally, every nation is free to prioritize policies as it sees fit, Greece’s foreign policy focuses on two avenues: pursuing a set of values and principles which promote stability, and participating in formulating European Union policies, in a way which would bolster the EU’s international standing and position. “Turkey’s position on Iran does not coincide with that of the EU,” Droutsas said – a point that cannot be taken lightly considering that Ankara wants to become a member nation.
Greece, he added, supports the EU’s position that every peaceful way to resolve the Iranian problem should be exhausted. “We are truly concerned by the fact that no such progress has been made. Things today are perilous.”
When asked where Athens stands on the issue of Gaza-bound flotillas – especially in view of recent report that it had prevented such sails from leaving its shores, Droutsas treads carefully: “Greece understands Israel’s legitimate security concerns perfectly. Simultaneously, we understand the humanitarian problems in Gaza. Israel’s decision on mitigations was a step in the right direction, but the difficult situation in Gaza does not contribute to the peace process.”
Gaza’s frustration, he continued, “Pushed parts of the Palestinian people to the extreme and fuels the fires of radical groups, which in turn has various implications on Israel’s security. The situation has prompted Greece and Cyprus to promote an initiative which may ease the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.”
Greek public opinion of Israel, however, is less forgiving, but Droutsas believes that can be changed.
“Strengthening the ties between our countries reflects a sentiment shared by both nations…the harsh humanitarian situation in Gaza and the perpetuation of the Palestinian problem harm Israel’s international image, not just its image in Greece.
“That is why I feel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to pursue peace talks with Mahmou Abbas is so important. Both leaders deserve our support. They must develop mutual trust that would enable them to resolve the situation.”
Droutsas also believes that the differences between Israelis and Greeks are minute.
“We have so much in common, in all aspects of life,” he said. To illustrate, he points out that he has no idea how it is that the many successful Greek-style Israeli singers, such as iconic singer Yehuda Poliker, have yet to become mega-stars in Greece.
“I wish my visit had started on a Friday – I missed the chance to see Poliker at the Zapa Club in Tel Aviv,” he said.
