Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

INTEGRATION

Turkish-Germans celebrate Turkey’s quarterfinals entry

Thousands of Turkish football fans across Germany celebrated their team’s entry into the Euro 2008 quarterfinals after a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic on Sunday evening.

Published: 16 June 2008 08:43 CEST
Turkish-Germans celebrate Turkey's quarterfinals entry
Fans in Frankfurt on Sunday night. Photo: DPA

More than 25,000 fans swarmed Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm shopping district, according to police on Monday. The celebrations were peaceful with just a handful of arrests, the police said.

In Munich, some 7,000 Turkish-German fans staged an impromptu celebration on Leopoldstrasse that was “loud and frenetic,” according to police. Some arrests were made due to “pyrotechnic items,” but fans stayed out of trouble otherwise.

There were traffic jams in Hannover as more than 4,000 fans gathered in the Steintorplatz and surrounding streets.

Just after the final whistle blew, hundreds of Turkey fans in Freiburg gathered in the downtown area, cruising the streets in their cars. Around midnight an altercation between fans sent a 26-year-old Turkish-German to the hospital with a stab wound. Another 33-year-old fan suffered slight injuries from a police dog bite.

Cities in the Ruhr basin also reported substantial public celebrations that led to traffic jams.

In Mainz celebrations were a bit less peaceful. Honking caravans cruised until well after midnight and fans harried police until reinforcements calmed the area.

Germany is home to some three million residents with Turkish background.

ISLAM

Erdogan calls French separatism bill ‘guillotine’ of democracy

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday denounced a planned French law designed to counter "Islamist separatism" as a "guillotine" of democracy.

Published: 13 May 2021 15:01 CEST
Erdogan calls French separatism bill 'guillotine' of democracy
Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as "anti-Muslim". Photo: Adem ALTAN/AFP

The draft legislation has been criticised both inside France and abroad for stigmatising Muslims and giving the state new powers to limit speech and religious groups.

“The adoption of this law, which is openly in contradiction of human rights, freedom of religion and European values, will be a guillotine blow inflicted on French democracy,” said Erdogan in a speech in Ankara.

The current version of the planned law would only serve the cause of extremism, putting NGOs under pressure and “forcing young people to choose between their beliefs and their education”, he added.

READ ALSO: What’s in France’s new law to crack down on Islamist extremism?

“We call on the French authorities, and first of all President (Emmanuel) Macron, to act sensibly,” he continued. “We expect a rapid withdrawal of this bill.”

Erdogan also said he was ready to work with France on security issues and integration, but relations between the two leaders have been strained for some time.

France’s government is in the process of passing new legislation to crack down on what it has termed “Islamist separatism”, which would give the state more power to vet and disband religious groups judged to be threats to the nation.

Erdogan has already denounced the proposed measures as “anti-Muslim”.

READ ALSO: Has Macron succeeded in creating an ‘Islam for France’?

Last October, Erdogan questioned Macron’s “mental health”, accusing him of waging a “campaign of hatred” against Islam, after the French president defended the right of cartoonists to caricature the prophet Mohammed.

The two countries are also at odds on a number of other issues, including Libya, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean.

SHOW COMMENTS