Turks living in Germany are welcome, says FM Gabriel

BERLIN: Turks living in Germany are welcome and “belong here,” said the country’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel here on Saturday in an open letter designed to reassure citizens alarmed at the country’s soured relations with Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s moves to suppress democracy and crack down on political opponents have brought condemnation from Germany and led to an escalating row between the countries. Erdogan also prevented German politicians from visiting troops based at a Turkish airbase.

In a letter published in German and Turkish in daily newspaper Bild, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Germany had no quarrel with Turkish people in either country but could not stand by as “innocent” German citizens were jailed.

On Friday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble compared Turkey’s detention of six rights activists, including a German, to the authoritarian former communist East Germany.

“However difficult the political relations between Germany and Turkey, one thing is clear: you, people of Turkish roots in Germany, belong here with us, whether you have a German passport or not,” Gabriel wrote in Saturday’s open letter.

“We have always striven for good relations with Turkey, because we know that good relations are important for you German Turks,” he added.

He said Germany would review cooperation and especially economic aid for the fellow Nato member and campaign for Europe to take a clear position on Ankara.

Gokay Sofuoglu, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, welcomed Gabriel’s conciliatory words.

“We must not let ourselves be driven apart here in Germany.  People with Turkish roots need to focus on Germany,” he told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Bilateral tensions were already high before the activists’ arrests after recriminations during an April referendum on extending President Tayyip Erdogan’s powers and a pullout of German troops from a Turkish air base that began this month.

The arrests are part of a sweeping crackdown across Turkish society since a failed coup against Erdogan last year.

German officials are also increasingly concerned at what they say is large-scale covert activity by Ankara’s security services among Germany’s Turkish diaspora.

Germany’s head of domestic intelligence said on Friday Turkish agencies were carrying out influence operations in Germany, including targeting opponents of Erdogan.