Erdogan Raises Brows in Germany on Turkish Guest Workers' Day

German President Christian Wulff (R) meets Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, Germany, 01 November 2011. EPA/BGNES

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has raised eyebrows in Berlin by criticizing Germany for "failing" to integrate the three million Turks living there.

Erdogan was welcomed by the German leadership Tuesday and Wednesday for a ceremony held to mark the 50th anniversary of the first "guest workers" arriving in Germany from Turkey

The German politicians do not provide much recognition for the need to integrate closely three million Turks living in Germany, Erdogan told the German tabloid Bild in an interview ahead of the ceremony.

He raised the issue about the citizenship of the ethnic Turks residing in Germany, where only 700 000 of the some 3 million Turks actually hold German citizenship.

"Of course, I would prefer to see all three million have German citizenship,"Erdogan remarked.

He further slammed Germany's position about Turkey's aspirations for EU membership, claiming that Germany does not lend enough support to it.

Erdogan complained that Turkey feels let down by Germany as it pursues the slow-moving bid, which faces broad scepticism. Merkel has argued for Turkey to be granted "privileged partnership" rather than full membership.

Erdogan, however, claims that German politicians "should do much more for Turkey's EU accession, because it would massively encourage the integration" of Turks in Germany.

"Because we Turks feel so many positive things about Germany, we feel let down here," he added.

In a commentary, the online edition of the Spiegel magazine stresses that another major issue in German-Turkish relations is Turkey's rise as a regional power where the latter has started to flex its muscles.

"Some in Germany fear that, rather than accept a privileged partnership, there is a risk of Turkey turning away from Europe altogether. In fact, the economically-thriving country has lost interest in the crisis-stricken EU in recent months. With economic growth of around ten percent and a tripling of per capita income since 2002, Ankara is hardly dependent on securing closer economic relations," the Spiegel points out.

Yet another problem between the two countries is the PKK conflict, with Turkish politicians repeatedly attacking the German government and accusing Berlin of indirectly protecting the Kurdish terrorists. "Twice as many PKK members live in Germany as in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq," claimed Cemil Cecik -- speaker of the Turkish parliament and a party colleague of Erdogan -- according to the S?ddeutsche Zeitung. The prime minister himself has criticized German foundations and accused them of funding the PKK.

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