Row erupts in Germany over plans for Turkish schools
The proposed opening of three Turkish schools in Germany has rekindled a long-standing row over the perceived influence of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government on the country’s three-million strong Turkish community.
Coming after years of debate over Turkish influence in German mosques, the proposal has met fierce criticism from conservative politicians.
“We don’t want Erdogan schools in Germany,” declared Markus Blume, general secretary of the Bavarian CSU, the sister party of Angela Merkel’s ruling conservatives, in an interview with media group RND yesterday.
The German government is currently in negotiations with its Turkish counterparts to open three private Turkish schools in Frankfurt, Cologne and Berlin.
While critics such as Blume fear that the schools will extend Erdogan’s influence over the Turkish diaspora, Ankara sees the proposal as a simple reciprocal move.
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