It’s Time For Turkey To Snap Out Of Its Self-Delusion
Conflict ensues over the establishment of Turkish high schools to promote integration in Germany. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is putting pressure on German politicians to “see the signs of the times,” having recently lobbied for the Turkish diaspora to promote Turkish interests in their respective countries. The full article can be read here. […]
Islam for the Diaspora revisited
In this Der Spiegel article religious scholar Rauf Ceylan discusses the role of the imam in Germany. He advocates for a “homegrown” imam who can modernize the religion and its practice in a new nation. As imams are currently imported from abroad for four-year periods, Islamic leaders are not fully equipped to lead a German […]
International Right-Wingers Gather for EU-Wide Minaret Ban
An upcoming conference to be held in Germany this weekend seeks to discuss the possibility of an EU-wide minaret ban. The conference, hosted by the German right-wing group called Pro-NRW, will be attended by other conservative parties from throughout Europe as they gather to “discuss the dangers of Islam.” Members of such parties see minarets […]
Fast jedes vierte Kind in Tageseinrichtungen mit Migrationshintergrund
The article “Fast jedes vierte Kind in Tageseinrichtungen mit Migrationshintergrund” is a quick overview of the rising percentage of children in Bavaria that have at least one non-German parent. The account reports that 24.8% of children attending preschool in the state of Bavaria have migrant roots. The statistics presented in this article should not, however, […]
“Merkel offen fuer tuerkische Schulen in Deutschland” (Merkel is open towards Turkish schools in Germany)
The article “Merkel offen fuer tuerkische Schulen in Deutschland” (Merkel is open towards Turkish schools in Germany) talks about how chancellor Angela Merkel met with Minister-President Erdogan in Turkey this past week. They discussed the topic of Turkish schools in Germany, stating that schools in which Turkish is taught already exist in Germany. This offering […]
Teach First makes the grade in Germany
Similar to the United States’ “Teach for America” program, Germany’s “Teach First” organization focuses on improving the education of challenged, mostly low-income schools. Graduates from elite Universities who wish to give back to the community are placed almost as (it seems to me) communication teachers – bridging the gap between the students, mostly from multicultural […]
“No” to dual citizenship
German-born children of foreign parents will have to choose between citizenship in their birth country and their parents’ country. The article on immigration talks about three German states that proposed to allow German-born children of foreign parents to keep dual citizenship, but were denied. Chancellor’s conservative position on immigration is in line with her earlier […]
Gender Gap in Germany
This article highlights the growing wage gap between women and men in Germany. According to this article women on average earn about 23% less than their male colleagues. This number is 5% higher than EU’s average, and somewhat higher than that of last year. This article suggests that many believe that reducing the gender pay […]
Merkel gegen türkische Gymnasien in Deutschland
Angela Merkel spoke out against the suggestion by Tayyip Erdogan to open solely Turkish high schools in Germany. Not only German politicians were against his suggestions; the Türkischen Gemeinde in Deutschland also said that exclusive high schools were counterproductive towards integration. Read the full article here.
“Tuerkei will mit Merkel ueber Visa reden” (“Turkey wants to talk with chancellor Merkel about visa”)
The article “Tuerkei will mit Merkel ueber Visa reden” (“Turkey wants to talk with Chancellor Merkel about visa”) addresses the issue of visa-free travel into the EU. Turkish citizens are dissatisfied by the fact that they still have to apply for a visa to travel to EU countries, even though Turkey has applied to become […]