The top candidate of Germany's right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the upcoming election reportedly threatened to dispose of a Turkish origin minister "in Anatolia."

Addressing a crowd in central Thüringen state's Eichsfeld, AfD candidate Alexander Gauland criticized Social Democrats (SPD) vice chair and Integration Minister, Aydan Özoğuz.Gauland previously told German daily Tagesspiegel that a "specific German culture" was "unidentifiable" beyond the German language.

Underlining that Özoğuz was a "German-Turk," Gauland suggested that Özoğuz would see the specific German culture if she came to Eichsfeld.

"Thank God, we will dump her in Anatolia," Gauland said, garnering applause and even some shouts of joy from the crowd.

The right-wing politician also claimed that asylum seekers and fresh migrants wanted "to take away Germany from us," adding that all citizens should "resist this invasion."

After receiving mixed reactions from colleagues, Gauland told Tagesspeigel that he could not remember whether he used the term "dump" while criticizing Özoğuz, however, he insisted that someone who says "cohabitation should be negotiated every day" should go back to Anatolia.

Alice Weidel, who is another AfD candidate for the upcoming election, told Monday Germany's state channel ZDF that Gauland's choice of words were a "matter of taste."

Weidel also claimed that Özoğuz was "completely unsuited" for the post of an integration officer, adding that she should go "back to Turkey."

Several SPD, and the Greens politicians backed Özoğuz in Twitter posts, calling Gauland and the populist AfD party "racist" and, using hashtags such as #NoAfD and #Niewieder (never again).

German-born Aydan Özoğuz was elected deputy chairperson of the SPD in 2011, and has been serving as a Minister of State in the German Chancellery and Commissioner for Immıgration, Refugees and Integration since 2013.