A recently published article, "Political Relations between Turkey and Germany," by Mustafa Yeneroğlu, the head of Parliament's Human Rights Investigation Commission, argues that the German government's national integration policy tries to assimilate Turks into German society. According to Yeneroğlu's article, such an integration policy leads to tension in bilateral relations between Germany and Turkey.
Being in a defenseless position in Germany, Turks tend to protect their traditions against the German national integration policy. The policy aims to assimilate the German-Turkish population in Germany. Such a contradictory assimilation policy differs from the EU claim of being a heterogeneous society that has a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic region. Yeneroğlu criticized what he calls the German government's double standard. The German government homophobic and anti-Semitic acts are documented, but "the documentation of Islamophobic acts, until recently, was not addressed by the federal government at all." The federal government in Germany has not fought against ill will toward Islam. Quite the contrary, it openly sympathized with the extreme right's groundless fears, and right-wing populist discourse attracted attention in mainstream society. Hence, the situation of German-Turks in Germany is jeopardized.
Moreover, Islamophobia and the far right are new trends in Europe. Muslims seek a way out from such oppression so they created Islamic organizations. Islamic organizations could be seen as recreation areas for Muslims in Germany and other EU countries. Notwithstanding, Islamic organizations' institutional rights are postponed under political pretexts in the EU and especially Germany.
Another of the German government's double standards dates to 1997. At the 1997 Luxembourg Summit, with an unfair treaty, Turkey was obliged to EU economic law, but Turkey had no rights in the formulation of the law in Brussels. Yeneroğlu said that collaboration policy of then Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government was "asymmetric."
EU refugee policy is currently a controversial issue. The EU wants to keep refugees out of the EU. Yeneroğlu said such an attitude is a "serious threat to the EU's most substantial feature, a common market without borders, and therefore to the future of the EU itself." Moreover, according to a Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) report, almost 6,000 migrant children are missing in Germany, which indicates the German government's poor performance in protecting refugees in the country.
Yeneroğlu also commented on the murders of eight German-Turks by neo-Nazis between 2000 and 2007. It is believed that racist motives were behind the murders, especially the notorious National Socialist Underground (NSU). In his criticism of the German government, Yeneroğlu said, "The NSU managed to commit atrocities and shed blood all over the country without being discovered by the police or the intelligence services for over 16 years."The EU, and especially Germany's attitude to the PKK, is considered contradictory in Turkey. In March, the Belgian government allowed the PKK to put up a tent in front of the European Council building in Brussels, although the PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by many countries as well as the EU. In Germany, the status quo is almost the same as in Belgium. Yeneroğlu wrote in his article: "The PKK can easily hold protests in front of the federal parliament building, spread its propaganda even in newspapers, collect large donations and continue its military training in Germany." The PKK is forbidden by law in Germany, but it is treated like a legal organization. PKK-affiliated groups are active in Germany and some militants joined the PKK from many different EU countries, including Germany. Such an attitude has a negative impact on how the Turkish public views Germany as well as relations between Turkey and Germany.
