[Lgpolicy-list] [lg policy] GERMAN TURKS SLAM COMPULSORY MIGRANT LANGUAGE POLICY

Tue Dec 9 16:26:27 UTC 2014

   - Sena Alkan
   - Updated : 09.12.2014 11:30:24
   - Published : 09.12.2014 02:04:48

  [image: German Turks slam compulsory migrant language policy]
ISTANBUL — The sister party of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party
in Bavaria, the CSU, has come under fire after drafting a proposal
suggesting that migrants in Germany need to speak German both in public and
at home. Receiving harsh criticism from some German politicians, German
Turks and German citizens, the CSU back-pedalled from the immigrant
language policy.

The draft policy paper states that "People who want to remain in Germany on
a permanent basis should be obliged to speak German both in public and
within the family." The CSU parliamentary leader Gerda Hasselfeldt said
that the party would have to rework the motion.

"We have to think again a little bit about the formulation," she said, but
added that the basic idea contained in the motion was correct. The draft
whipped up a storm among German Turks, with most of them describing the
proposal as "anti-democratic and ridiculous." Half of Turkey's expats live
in Germany, with their numbers reaching 3 million - constituting 3.7
percent of the Germany population.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, R.K., a Turkish citizen who was
born in Germany before returning back to Turkey to work, described the
draft as "ridiculous."

"No one should decide which language people speak at home. This is a
violation of personal rights. As I remember, this kind of law was applied
in Turkey during the single party regime. They pushed citizens to speak
Turkish and banned Kurdish, and that move paved the way for the outlawed
PKK due to the pressure on the people," he said, adding that, in reference
to 3 million German Turks, this draft is an attack on Turkish culture and a
sign that Germany does not tolerate German Turks. Esma Bilekkaya-Salih, a
manager of a private company in Germany, said that in some houses in
Germany, family members speak four languages, adding, "They are not aware
how different their [Bavarian] dialect is as well."

Şebnem Klink-Zeren, a German Turk who works as a lawyer, said that the
draft paper is a joke and added, "But, it is a serious issue at the same
time. Both the German and the international media reacted harshly to the
draft. Politicians in different wings also stand against it." A Turkish
student, Rukayye Şimşek was born in Germany and has lived there all her
life, speaking both Turkish and German at home. In her opinion, it is easy
to hear that her spoken German is better than her Turkish. She said that
the draft is "completely ridiculous."

Not only German Turks, but also German people reacted to the draft paper.
"The proposal from the CSU is a poor attempt to get votes from very
conservative and right-wing Germans. The CSU's voters are mostly based in
Bavaria, where many people speak with a very strong Bavarian dialect, which
is sometimes hard to understand, even for Germans. I'm quite sure the CSU
would never tell the Bavarian voters to stop speaking Bavarian and start
speaking German at home," said a German citizen Daniel Krause, who lived in
Berlin.

Krause added, "In my opinion, this is totally wrong and no help at all when
it comes to trying to integrate immigrants into Germany. And it is an
offence to so many people, who learn the German language already."

The proposal also fueled a heated debate on Twitter. A German-Turkish girl,
İlknur, said on her Twitter account: "I speak German, English, Turkish,
Kurdish & Arabic what about u CSU? Oh and Bavarian of course."

According to a report by the OECD, Germany is the main destination for
migrants among EU countries. While the increasing number of migrants raises
questions about how foreigners will integrate into Germany society, the low
birth rate and ageing population in the country pose a risk to the economy.
It is due to the this fact that Germany is desperately in need of migrants
to overcome its demographic crisis.

On the other side of the coin, researchers in Germany stated that German
Turks in the country have started to forget about speaking Turkish because
they are exposed to German in their daily lives. According to Erhan Temel,
a Turkish academic in Germany, the language that German Turks speak is
"D-urkish" – a blend of Deutsch and Turkish — as they make unconscious
language switches while speaking.

http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/12/09/german-turks-slam-compulsory-migrant-language-policy

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