Enlarge image
TGD chairman Gökay Sofuoğlu
Photo: Gregor Fischer / dpa
According to the Turkish community, too little attention is paid to people with a migration background in the Bundestag election campaign. He experiences "that the parties - with the exception of the Greens - are currently very cautious when it comes to the issue of migration and the organization of the immigration society," said the federal chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD), Gökay Sofuoğlu, of the dpa news agency. That is very regrettable, also with a view to the approximately twelve percent of those eligible to vote with a migration history.
The TGD had asked the direct candidates of the parties represented in the Bundestag in recent weeks about their attitudes and positions in matters of migration and integration. According to the association, 209 candidates from the Greens responded. The Turkish community received 187 replies from the Left Party, 143 replies from the SPD and 129 replies from the FDP. According to the information provided, only 24 AfD candidates and a total of 21 direct candidates from the CDU and CSU replied.
When asked whether they supported target quotas for people with a migration background in view of the very low proportion in the public service, at six percent, only the left-wing politicians surveyed answered with a majority of "yes".
Of the SPD candidates who took part in the survey, 35 percent were in favor, 49 percent against.
16 percent did not provide any information.
Of the Greens surveyed, 33 percent were in favor of such a quota, 57 percent against.
The candidates from the FDP, CDU, CSU and AfD, who responded to the Turkish community, spoke out against a "migration quota" by a large majority.
"The national soccer team reflects Germany better than German politics"
"We also saw with women that it just doesn't work that way," said Sofuoğlu, justifying the umbrella organization's call for a quota. It is important that people with a history of migration in the public service and in politics are also present in management positions. Although more than a quarter of the population now has foreign roots, people with a history of migration are hardly represented in management positions in the public service or in politics. "The national soccer team reflects Germany better than German politics," said the TGD chairman.
The Turkish community has set itself the goal of improving social coexistence in Germany and standing up for the interests of people with a migration history and against Islamophobia and racism.
In the past, the TGD also criticized the policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan several times.
The association has around 60,000 members nationwide.
mrc / dpa