Turkish culture club firebombed in Münster
A recent string of attacks on a Turkish consulate and a Turkish culture club in the city of Münster are believed to have been carried out by individuals of Kurdish background. This article mentions some of the tensions between Kurds and Turks living in Turkey which continues to be the subject of international concern from […]
Türken größter Anteil Etwas weniger Ausländer in Deutschland
The article “Türken größter Anteil: Etwas weniger Ausländer in Deutschland” talks about immigrants in Germany. According to the article, the number of immigrants in Germany decreased this past year compared to preceding years. However, the number of EU-citizens in Germany increased slightly, with the highest percentage increase coming from Bulgary and Romania. Nonetheless, Turks are […]
Islam for the Diaspora
This article addresses the role of imams in Germany and anxieties that exist about the nature of Islamic instruction there. As German schools lack training in the Islamic faith, Muslim congregations have been importing imams. One Islamic organization that trains Turkish imams for service in Germany, Diyanet, represents those who would like Europe to develop […]
Bewerber-Diskriminierung
This was an interesting article in the online addition of Der Spiegel where students sent fictitious resumes to German companies under a Turkish and a German alias. The study proved that discrimination existed in the job market regardless of qualification, though it was also counteracted by things like recommendations. Read the full article here.
Too Left for Germany
Jannine Menger Hamilton is an immigrant who was raised and educated in Germany. Hamilton appears to be the star example of successful integration and yet she is being denied naturalization because she is a member of a leftist party which according to German authorities is too left. Those preventing Hamilton’s citizenship status are contending that […]
Dresdner bilden Menschenkette gegen Fremdenhass
The article “Dresdner bilden Menschenkette gegen Fremdenhass” depicts the scene that took place on February 13th, 2010, where 15.000 people in Dresden formed a line in remembrance of the night and the victims of the bombings of February 13th, 1945. In addition, the article states that the people set a sign against xenophobia and war. […]
Leading conservative calls for more immigrant naturalisation
In this article it is suggested that a more successful integration can be achieved if Germany worked harder at naturalizing members of its large immigrant population. In this way a more inclusive environment could perhaps open up a discourse to better examine the problems that many immigrants (and children of immigrants) face in Germany today. […]
Muslims in the EU don’t feel accepted, prefer to live in mixed society
A recent study from the end of 2009 examines the livelihoods of Muslim immigrants living throughout Europe – the survey focused on residents of 11 European cities. According to the article, there is a common view that Muslims do not wish to integrate into their new surroundings, but the sampling found that many Muslims in fact […]
Turks face integration challenges in Germany
This article focuses on the difficulty Turkish Germans have when trying to claim a German identity. It brings up problems in defining German identity, where one woman appears to have been well-integrated as a child — dressing like other German girls and refraining from wearing the head scarf — but is ultimately unable to have […]
Far-Right Rhetoric Germany’s Very Own Minaret Debate Turns Nasty
This article speaks to the recent debate over the building of minarets on mosques in many countries within the European Union. It is another instance of contention over the perceived “Islamicization” of Europe through the increased visibility of Islam in European cities. In this article (which focuses on a small town in Westphalia) Islam is […]