Turkish Forum

Tag: Wulff

  • Wulff urges Turkey to respect Christians

    Wulff urges Turkey to respect Christians

    German President Christian Wulff on Tuesday urged Turkey to respect the religious freedoms of Christian minorities and offered a conciliatory message to Turks living in Germany.

    wulff in turkish parliament

    Wulff made the appeal after talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara, dominated by a simmering debate in Germany on whether efforts to integrate Muslim immigrants, many of them Turks, had failed.

    Wulff, the first German president to visit Turkey in a decade, stressed the freedoms Muslims enjoy in Germany and urged Islamic countries to reciprocate.

    “We expect that Christians in Muslim countries have the same rights to live their faith publicly, educate new clergy and build churches,” he said in a speech at Turkey’s parliament.

    “Religious freedom is part of our understanding of Europe as a community of values,” he said.

    Turkey’s non-Muslim communities, mainly Orthodox Greeks, Armenians and Jews, complain mostly of restrictions on property rights and theological education.

    Several attacks on Christians, including the murders of a German missionary in 2007 and the head of Turkey’s Roman Catholic Church in June, have fanned fears that hostility against non-Muslims is on the rise in Turkey.

    Earlier, Wulff issued a conciliatory message aimed at easing a heated debate in Germany over faltering efforts to integrate Muslim immigrants.

    “We are old friends…. The things that connect us are much more than the things that keep us apart,” he said after talks with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül.

    Wulff’s remarks came just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany’s efforts to create a multi-cultural society had failed and urged immigrants to integrate, learn German and adopt German culture and values.

    Germany has four million Muslims among its 82 million inhabitants, with 2.5 million Turks forming the largest ethnic minority. While many later-generation Turks have integrated with German society, large sections have never learned German and live in closed communities.

    Wulff stressed the immigrants’ reliance on state benefits, crime rate, machismo and rejection of education as major problems hindering integration.

    Gül renewed a call on Turkish immigrants to learn the German language, but stressed that “instead of using the integration problem politically, everybody must help find a solution.”

    The debate in Germany flared after ex-central banker Thilo Sarrazin said immigrants were making Germany “more stupid.”

    There have also been concerns that Muslim failure to integrate is breeding homegrown Islamist extremists in Germany.

    Wulff praised Turkey’s growing role in regional affairs, but reiterated Berlin’s position that the country’s EU accession talks were open-ended and did not guarantee full membership.

    Along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel argues that Turkey has no place in Europe and should settle for a “privileged partnership” instead of membership – a proposal Ankara categorically rejects.

    Wulff also met Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey’s highest Muslim religious official, Ali Bardakoglu.

    Despite political differences, Germany remains Turkey’s principal economic partner, with bilateral trade standing at $23.8 billion (€17 billion) in 2009.

    Wulff’s four-day visit was to take him also to Kayseri, a booming industrial city in central Turkey, the nearby Cappadocia region famous for its cone-shaped rock formations and the historic Saint Paul’s Church in Tarsus.

    He will also visit Istanbul to meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and lay the foundation of a Turkish-German university before leaving Friday.

    AFP/mry

  • Integration, religious freedoms weigh heavily during Wulff visit

    Integration, religious freedoms weigh heavily during Wulff visit

    German President Christian Wulff was to arrive in Turkey later on Monday for a five-day visit that comes amid a heated debate in Germany on the integration of Muslim immigrants, an overwhelming majority of whom are Turks.
    bettina christian wulffIn a sign that religious freedoms will also be high on the agenda, Wulff will visit religious sites in İstanbul and in the southern Turkish town of Tarsus and have talks with the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Ali Bardakoğlu, in Ankara and the Greek Orthodox patriarch, Bartholomew, in İstanbul.Another highlight of the visit is an address by the German president to the Turkish Parliament, which is scheduled for today. The integration of 2.5 million Turks into German society is likely to be a key issue in Wulff’s address. Wulff, the first German president to visit Turkey in 10 years, has won praise from Turkish and other Muslim immigrants when he said earlier this month that Islam was a “part of Germany.” But these remarks have also set off a row in Germany, prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to say that German culture is based on “Christian and Jewish values.” Wulff, who was recently depicted as a Muslim imam on the cover of a German journal because of his comments on Islam, faces the most difficult visit of his young presidency, according to some in the German media.The debate on the integration of Muslims into German society intensified when Merkel said during a weekend meeting of young members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) that Germany’s attempts to create a multicultural society have “utterly failed.” The chancellor, who is under pressure from other conservative politicians to toughen the stance on immigration, said too little had been required of immigrants in the past and repeated her usual line that they should learn German in order to get by in school and have opportunities in the labor market.

    Official German data show about one in five Turks living in Germany speak either poor German or no German at all and that language difficulties were the main obstacle to the successful integration of Turkish immigrants. Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have recently called on Turks to advance their German skills and to speak German “without an accent.”

    The debate over Germany’s immigrant community has intensified since former Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin published a book accusing Turkish and Arab immigrants of lowering the intelligence of German society. A survey that was published last week showed that more than one-third of Germans say immigrants, some of whom had been living in the country for more than 40 years, should be sent to their native lands when jobs are scarce. Some 58 percent backed limitations on the religious practices of Muslims, while 10 percent said a “führer” is needed to run the country “with a strong hand.”

    Wulff will visit Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s mausoleum and then proceed to talks with Gül today. He will also have talks with Prime Minister Erdoğan and head of the Religious Affairs Directorate Bardakoğlu before addressing Parliament in the afternoon.

    On Wednesday, he will travel to the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, where Gül is from, to attend a business forum, following which he will fly to the southern province of Adana. On Thursday, he will visit the St. Paul Museum in Tarsus, a former church, and attend a religious ceremony there.

    On Friday, the German president will have talks with Patriarch Bartholomew and then visit Sultanahmet Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. He and Gül are then expected to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a Turkish-German university in İstanbul.

    Todays Zaman
  • Wulff visits Turkey as integration row simmers

    Wulff visits Turkey as integration row simmers

    German President Christian Wulff flew to Turkey Monday for a four-day visit amid a heated debate in his country over the integration of Muslim immigrants, many of them Turkish.

    wulff flugzeug

    His visit comes just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in for the first time in a heated debate on immigration, saying that Germany’s attempt to create a multi-cultural society had failed completely.

    “Multikulti,” the concept that “we are now living side by side and are happy about it,” does not work, Merkel told a meeting of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

    “This approach has failed, totally,” she said, adding that immigrants should integrate, learn German and adopt German culture and values.

    Germany has four million Muslims among its 82 million inhabitants. Turks form the largest ethnic minority with a 2.5-million-strong presence. While many later generation Turks have integrated with German society, large sections have never learned German and live in closed communities.

    In a speech this month, Wulff said Islam was “now part of Germany” but also urged his countrymen and immigrants to make an effort at integration.

    In a weekend newspaper interview, Turkey’s Gül also urged Turks living in Germany to master the language of their adopted country.

    “When one doesn’t speak the language of the country in which one lives that doesn’t serve anyone, neither the person concerned, the country, nor the society,” Gul told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

    “That is why I tell them at every opportunity that they should learn German, and speak it fluently and without an accent. That should start at nurseries.”

    Although traditionally strong, Turkish-German ties have been overshadowed by Merkel’s opposition to Ankara’s bid to join the European Union.

    Along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel argues that the mainly Muslim country of more than 70 million has no place in Europe and should settle for a “privileged partnership” instead of full membership – a proposal that Turkey categorically rejects.

    On the business front, Germany remains Turkey’s principal economic partner – bilateral trade amounted to $23.8 billion (€17 billion euros) in 2009. More than 4,000 German companies operate or have partnerships in Turkey.

    Wulff’s visit will also take him Wednesday to Kayseri, a booming industrial city in central Turkey, and then to the nearby Cappadocia region, famous for its cone-shaped rock formations, rock-carved underground cities and early Christian churches.

    On Thursday he will go to the southern town of Tarsus, the birth place of Saint Paul, to visit the historic Saint Paul’s Church.

    He will then fly to Istanbul, Turkey’s cultural and economic hub, where he will meet Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, on Friday.

    Wulff will tour the city’s historical sites and lay the foundation of the Turkish-German university before leaving.

    AFP/mry

  • German president goes to Turkey as Islam row rages at home

    German president goes to Turkey as Islam row rages at home

    Wulff

    Berlin/Istanbul – On Monday German President Christian Wulff will arrive in Turkey for his third state visit in his three months since becoming head of state – and this ostensibly ceremonial visit will be the most difficult by far.

    On October 3 Wulff, a conservative ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel and former regional premier, added fuel to an increasingly heated debate about the place of Islam in German society.

    ‘By now, Islam belongs in Germany,’ Wulff said, to the chagrin of many conservative colleagues who wish to preserve what they see as Germany’s mainstream judeo-christian culture.

    Since then, Chancellor Merkel has proclaimed that ‘multiculturalism has utterly failed’ in Germany.

    Most of Germany’s four million Muslims are of Turkish ethnicity, the families and descendants of the tens of thousands of Anatolians came to the former West Germany as ‘guest workers’ who were greatly needed during the booming economy in the 1960s.

    Wulff is set to give a speech before the Turkish parliament on Tuesday, and the event is being keenly awaited, and not just because it is the first time that a German head of state has addressed lawmakers there.

    His recognition of Islam as being part of German culture despite the rancour at home has won him the highest praise in Ankara.

    ‘I very much appreciated his speech on the 20th anniversary of German reunification (October 3),’ Turkish President Abdullah Gul said.

    The last time that a head of state from Europe’s largest economy was in Turkey was ten years ago, just after Ankara began the formal negotiations to join the European Union – a process still far from complete.

    Merkel, along with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, has repeatedly said that Turkey should be offered a ‘privileged partnership’ with the EU – not full membership.

    Despite this, relations between the two states are good, with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attending the Germany- Turkey football match along with Merkel in Berlin in early October.

    Wulff’s visit is planned to encompass the whole range of bilateral relations, including the laying of a foundation stone of a German-Turkish university in Istanbul, and talks with religious leaders.

    Christian leaders in Turkey complain that their religion has no official legal status, unlike Islam. Wulff is due to meet with the head of the country’s Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Ali Bardakoglu.

    The issue of the treatment of minorities affects not just Wulff’s visit, but in fact the entire EU negotiations, a fact that frustrates the political elite.

    ‘The negotiation process is constantly being interrupted by intrigues that no other entry candidate has to put up with,’ says Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bagis.

    If Wulff is to follow the opinion polls at home, he should not give his Turkish hosts any hope of a full EU membership in the foreseeable future. A poll conducted by the Bild newspaper for Monday’s edition showed some 72 per cent of respondents against Turkey joining as a full member.