POLICY AND PERSONALITY: A RIFT OPENS IN TURCO-GERMAN TIES

Friday, February 15, 2008
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
By Gareth Jenkins

Erdogan was called by his critics a wolf in sheep's clothing. Now that clothing has come off, so that the world sees as he is. Nothing wrong in insisting that Turks should keep their heritage alive in Germany and elsewhere. The problem is while he is saying "assimilation is a crime against humanity", he is not admitting that Turkey has a strong policy of assimilating its minorities since 1923. While he is saying that genocide does not exist in the Turkish culture he is ignoring the genocidal policy against the Armenian population by the Young Turks rulers during 1915-1923. I find this a shame.

The recent angry exchanges between the Turkish and German governments over the integration of Turks living in Germany have highlighted the increasing vulnerability of Turkish policy to the personality of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On February 10, Erdogan told an audience of around 18,000 Turks in the German city of Cologne that they should resist attempts to assimilate them into German society but should remain faithful to their Turkish traditions (Hurriyet, Milliyet, Yeni Safak, Zaman, Sabah, February 11).

Erdogan had already clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the education of the Turks living in Germany. Approximately 2.5 million people of Turkish origin currently live in Germany, around one-third of whom have German citizenship. Erdogan insists that the priority of children of Turkish origin should be to learn Turkish, with German as a second language. He has called for an increase in the number of Turkish schools in Germany and even promised to send teachers from Turkey. In contrast, Merkel has called on all those living in Germany to prioritize learning German in order to facilitate their integration into German society and ensure their full access to public services and employment. She condemned Erdogan’s speech in Cologne and pointedly remarked: “We shall have to continue debating our understanding of integration issues with the Turkish prime minister” (Anatolian Agency, February 11).

Merkel’s statement triggered an angry response from Erdogan. On February 12, he told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), “Assimilation is a crime against humanity. I may think differently from Merkel on this matter but I explicitly declare that nobody can dictate to the Turkish community to assimilate” (Hurriyet, February 13).

On February 13, Erdogan went one step further. “We may not agree with Mrs. Merkel on the subject of assimilation and integration. This is true. In any case, if I act according to what she thinks then I am not myself. Nor are we ourselves. We have no desire to be like them” (Milliyet, February 14).

[...]

Erdogan’s latest outburst will have done little to persuade the opponents of Turkish accession in the EU of the error of their ways. Indeed it will have further alienated the very country that Turkey needs most to convince. Relations with France, the other main opponent of Turkish accession, are currently extremely tense, not least over France’s recognition of the Armenian genocide. There appears little prospect of an imminent improvement. But the same could not have been said about Germany. Over the last 18 months, Merkel had reduced the references in her public speeches to her opposition to full Turkish membership. There was hope that the two countries could at least engage in a productive dialogue without being held hostage to public rhetoric. These hopes have now suffered a severe blow. Perhaps most bewilderingly, Erdogan’s outburst came just weeks after a number of Turkish officials, including Gul and Babacan, responded to criticism of the AKP’s reluctance to implement the reforms required for EU membership by promising that 2008 would be “the year of the EU.”

But even more bewildered will be the members of Turkey’s non-Turkish minorities, particularly by Erdogan’s declaration that “assimilation is a crime against humanity.” Over the years, particularly in the predominantly Kurdish southeast and the Laz-speaking northeast of Turkey, the Turkish authorities have changed the names of thousands of villages and hamlets and replaced them with Turkish names. Non-Turkish minorities still face restrictions on the use of their languages and even the names that they can call their children. Unlike in Germany, anyone who takes Turkish citizenship is almost automatically required to assume a new Turkish name. While Erdogan’s insistence on Turks in Germany being educated in their mother tongue is in marked contrast to his refusal to allow education in minority languages such as Kurdish inside Turkey.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.

Erdogan's Visit Leaves German Conservatives Fuming

February 12, 2008
Spiegel Online, Germany
By David Crossland

Erdogan also announced that "There Is No Genocide In Our Culture And Civilization ". While the reaction has been on the Erdogan's statement on assimilation, there has been no reaction in the German media to this damning statement he made towards the German culture. This is a far cry from the Turkey's reaction when Pope Benedict XVI made a reference in University of Regensburg in Germany on 12 September 2006, to a text written in 1391 as an expression of the views of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus. Is Turkey quick to be offended or is it that the German media does not care when Turkey takes a swipe at the German culture right in Germany? And how does Erdogan's statement on assimilation in Germany square with the way Turkey treats its minorities see The Assimilation Policy of Turkey Continues?

Conservative German politicians have accused Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan of interfering in German affairs and harming efforts to integrate the country's Turks. Are they really that angry or do they just want to whip up sentiment against Turkey's bid to join the EU?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservatives have heaped criticism on Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for telling Germany's 2.5 million Turkish immigrants that "assimilation is a crime against humanity."

Erdogan, speaking in front of almost 20,000 people (more...) at a stadium in the German city of Cologne on Sunday, called for people of Turkish descent not to give up their cultural heritage.

He encouraged Turks abroad to integrate in their new home countries, learn new languages and apply for political representation -- without forgetting their Turkish background. "It is important to learn German, but your Turkish language should not be neglected," he said. Erdogan had already caused controversy on Friday by calling for Turkish-language high schools to be set up in Germany.

His four-day visit to Germany was overshadowed by the deaths of nine Turkish immigrants, five of them children, in an apartment block fire in the southern city of Ludwigshafen. Speculation has been rife in the local Turkish community and in Turkish media that it was a racially motivated arson attack, but the cause of the fire has not yet been found. The blaze awakened memories of a fire in the western town of Solingen in 1993 in which five Turkish women and girls died. That fire was caused by German youths.

Prominent German conservatives have rebuffed Erdogan's comments. Erwin Huber, the head of Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union, went as far as to call for a review of Turkey's EU accession talks. "Erdogan preached Turkish nationalism on German soil. That is anti-European and confirms our misgivings regarding Turkish EU membership," Huber told the Münchner Merkur newspaper. "One must now consider and examine whether it makes sense under these circumstances to continue accession talks with Turkey."

The deputy parliamentary group chairman of Merkel's conservatives, Wolfgang Bosbach, called on Erdogan not to interfere in German affairs. "A Turkish government shouldn't try to conduct domestic policy in Germany," Bosbach told the Westdeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Merkel also criticized Erdogan's comments, saying anyone with German citizenship was a full-fledged citizen regardless of their roots. "Their loyalty then belongs to the German state. That's why I think we need to further discuss the view of integration with the Turkish Prime Minister," she said.

The governor of Bavaria, Günther Beckstein, told N24 television: "The task (for Turks) is to be good citizens in Germany, to learn German, to speak German in their families." Beckstein called Erdogan's remarks "nationalistic" and "highly displeasing."

Conservative newspaper Die Welt writes that Erdogan has done integration in Germany a disservice:

"He acted rashly (and) with demagogic intent by comparing the Ludwigshafen fire to that of Solingen in 1993. He alleged a racist motivation for which there are no indications so far."

"This is the message that will stick: The Germans don't want integration; they want to rob the Turks of their Turkishness, of their culture. That is grist for the mill of the not especially small number of Turks or Turkish descendants who aren't very interested in integrating and who try to blame the Germans for that."

"Integration also involves assimilation. A person who grows into another culture changes by doing so. He leaves much of the culture he descends from behind. He gives up the old to become someone new. It's a beautiful, painful process. In the long run it makes no sense to refuse to accept that."

Business daily Handelsblatt writes that Germany's conservatives have seized on Erdogan's integration comments to push their own long-running opposition to Turkish EU membership:

"A strange debate has broken out after the visit of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to Germany. Chancellor Merkel feels the need to speak out after the prime minister warned of an undesired assimilation of his compatriots, and Bavaria's governor (Günther) Beckstein even claims to have detected nationalist tones. It seems as if an artificial conflict is being launched here."

"It's clear what purpose that debate could serve. The conservatives -- not just in Germany -- are suspicious about Turkey's determined march into European institutions. So every word uttered by Turks is examined to see whether it meets European standards."

"The word assimilation might have been unfortunate. But Erdogan basically called for support for a sensible integration of the Turks living in Germany. His proposal to set up Turkish schools here isn't that far-fetched. What makes Erdogan's idea any different from Berlin's efforts abroad? A frightening portion of the federal government's cultural budget goes toward setting up German schools. And German teachers work there. So why all the outrage?"

"The only explanation for all the fuss can be that emotions always run high regarding Turkey's efforts to get closer to Europe -- whether Turkey tries to become a member of the EU, or loosens its ban on headscarves, or promotes preserving its own cultural identity in Germany. All too often the Turkish government is presumed to be secretly motivated by a creeping Islamization. It's time to deal with Turkey more soberly."


Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.