German-Turkish conference focuses on integration


The German Embassy over the weekend held a conference titled "Integration versus Assimilation -- A Transnational Attempt at Thinking" in İstanbul bringing together a number of high-ranking German and Turkish immigration experts to discuss Germany's future integration policies.
The conference held as part of a series of events organized by the German Embassy in Turaaa and the German-Turkish Dialogue group picked up the debate over whether Germany's efforts to integrate its immigrant communities have amounted to attempts to assimilate these groups.
A heated debate on integration and assimilation was sparked when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech to Turkish immigrants in Cologne earlier this year. Erdoğan had said Turks in Germany should learn German but that they should not give up their Turkish identity. He also described assimilation as a "crime against humanity" remarks that resulting in a great deal of controversy.
This weekend Ali Alaybeyoğlu an advisor to Turkish State Minister Mustafa Said Yazıcıoğlu; Albrecht Schmidt president of the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees; and Ali Dere head of the Foreign Office of the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs set out to address the root of the debate taking up the challenging questions of identity bilingualism intercultural competence and the role religion plays in the lives of young Turkish immigrants in Germany.
Mustafa Ünal a founding member of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and a deputy who currently heads the Parliamentary German-Turkish Friendship Group and Professor Dieter Oberndörfer emeritus professor of political science at the University of Freiburg and the head of Germany's Migration Council spoke with Today's Zaman about the problems faced by immigrant communities and the future of German immigration policy. Surprisingly these experts spoke in unity. It is still possible to successaaaay integrate the 2.7 million Turks living in Germany said both experts who also agreed that controversial discourses taken up by politicians have been overplayed in public debate.
"Assimilation should not be the aim of any immigration policy nor can it be a solution" Ünal stressed adding that he has no suspicions about the German government in this regard. The aim of German immigration policies is clearly defined in the German law on immigration and the aim written is "to talk with the immigrants not about them" he said adding that this approach may be the only precondition for successful integration.
In response to a question about a recent law making it obligatory for spouses of Turkish immigrants to learn German if they want to join their husbands or wives in Germany Ünal said this "surely has not been a good move" and expressed his hope that the amendment would soon be revisited.
Professor Oberndörfer agreed with Ünal's opinion emphasizing that these new regulations were discriminatory. "They are indeed problematic from a legal perspective" he said adding that knowing the language of one's new host country was very helpful for starting a new life in a foreign country. "Immigrants should look at this as an opportunity" he said.
'Citizenship test will not solve the real problem'
Regarding the new citizenship test that foreigners are expected to pass to be eligible for a German passport both Ünal and Oberndörfer argued against it.
After months of work the Interior Ministry published a test of 310 multiple-choice questions on the Internet two weeks ago. From Sept. 1 applicants will have to take an exam that includes 33 of those questions and answer 17 of them correctly to pass. However the quiz which asks questions such as "Who wrote Germany's national anthem?" "What is the population of Germany" and "Which German institution should you register your dog with?" is already a subject of controversy. It has been criticized for testing attitudes rather than knowledge.
"This test can hardly be answered by a German academic" Ünal said. Oberndörfer argued "If our immigrants manage to answer these questions they are much more knowledgeable citizens than 80 percent of native Germans."
Both agreed that the real problem of getting the immigrants to really identify with the German society and state will not be solved by such a test. "The real problem lies much deeper we have to make our country more attractive for our immigrants" Oberndörfer said adding that he was not greatly concerned about people having double citizenship. "One can identify with two countries at the same time and should not therefore be denied the right two hold two citizenships at the same time" he said.
Commenting on Prime Minister Erdoğan's suggestion of opening Turkish schools in Germany and appointing teachers from Turaaa both said "Why not to give it a try?"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German authorities made it very clear they were unhappy about Erdoğan's suggestion. Bavarian Governor Günter Beckstein went as far as to say that the Turkish government was supporting "ghettoization" among Turkish immigrants.