Tag: Germany

HP News
Thousands more Turks in Germany can now become German citizens after law change

For years, many Turkish origin residents in Germany had complained about being unable to enjoy the full benefits of their adopted country, despite working and paying their taxes there, because German laws restricted who could hold dual nationality. At the end of 2022, the centre-left Social Democrat-led coalition government had announced plans to overhaul Germany’s […]

HP News
German government immigration reforms to help thousands of Turks attain dual citizenship

The Social Democrat-led government has announced plans to overhaul Germany’s immigration system. The reforms would bring the country in line with European norms for naturalisation, while also allowing more skilled workers into Germany to fill major shortages in the labour market. Under the proposed changes, there will be a “transparent, unbureaucratic” points-based system for skilled […]

HP News
Eighteen Turkish origin MPs elected to German Parliament

The number of Members of Parliament in the German National Assembly, or Bundestag, whose roots are from Turkey has increased. Preliminary results from Sunday’s General Election show there are a total of 18 MPs with Turkish and Turkish-Kurdish roots, up from 14 in 2017, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported. Nine MPs were elected for the […]

HP News
Germany reinforces EU ban on flags of terror groups PKK and Hamas

Legislation passed in the lower chamber of the German Parliament has outlawed the symbols of groups designated as ‘terrorist organisations’ by the European Union. The ban applies to groups such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and militant Palestinian movement Hamas. The new law, approved in the Bundestag on Friday, 25 June, now heads to […]

HP News
Turkish religious leader in Germany resigns over racist social media posts

The head of Göttingen’s branch of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği, DİTİB) has resigned after inflammatory material he had posted online inciting racial and religious hatred was exposed. Mustafa Keskin was outed by a socialist youth group, Die Falken (The Falcons), which documented the racist posts he had made […]

HP News
German school punishes young girl for talking Turkish in the playground

A schoolgirl aged nine found herself in trouble after pupils told teachers she was regularly talking Turkish in the playground. The young girl of Turkish origin, who has not been named, apparently fell foul of her primary school’s rules to only speak German while on the school’s premises. She was overheard “repeatedly” talking Turkish to […]

HP News
Bülend Ürük is the new spokesperson for Germany’s CDU/CSU alliance

A German Turk has been appointed spokesperson for Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Germany and the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, known as Union for short. Bülend Ürük will serve as the spokesperson for Germany’s two centre-right Christian-democratic and pro-European political parties, and also head their communications team. Ürük is currently CDU […]

HP News
At least 8 dead as gunmen target Turkish shisha bars in Germany

Eight people have been killed and at least five people injured following two shootings at shisha bars in the western German city of Hanau. An unknown number of gunmen opened fire at the first shisha bar, Midnight, located in the city centre about 10pm local time on Wednesday evening. It’s thought the same gunmen then […]