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CSU and Free Voters begin coalition talks in Bavaria

Three days after the state elections in Bavaria, the CDU and Free Voters have begun talks to form a coalition.

CSU and Free Voters begin coalition talks in Bavaria
Markus Söder at a CSU press conference in Munich on Tuesday. Photo: DPA

Led by party leaders Horst Seehofer and Hubert Aiwanger, the conservative CSU and center to center-right Free Voters are looking to lay down the groundwork for possible coalition negotiations.

SEE ALSO: Comment: Political earthquake in Bavaria? No, but Germany is still shaking things up

For most of their 73-year history, the CSU have single-handedly governed Bavaria, but after an unprecedented low result of 37.2 percent in Sunday’s elections, are now looking for a coalition partner.

They don’t have any time to waste. “Let's get started now,” Seehofer said on Wednesday when he arrived at the state parliament in Munich.

Discussions with the Greens, who won around 17 percent of the vote, are planned for the afternoon. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) stressed that he was “optimistic about the talks”.

'We'll manage'

As in the past few days, Aiwanger was confident that the two parties could reach an agreement quickly. “We'll manage,” he said, pointing out that the parties have been working towards this for years. The Free Voters of Bavaria, founded in 1978, have not yet been in a coalition with a major party.

Directly after the exploratory talks with both the Free Voters and the Greens, the CSU wants to decide with which party it wants to start coalition negotiations.

It remains to be seen how much time both the Greens and Free Voters will need to speak out for – or against – coalition negotiations. The Free Voters could vote on it at their party conference on October 27th.

SEE ALSO: The winners and losers: 7 things you need to know about the Bavarian elections

Söder and Seehofer had repeatedly stressed over the past few days that they sympathize more with an alliance with the Free Voters, whose major issues span the political spectrum – from stricter border controls to a push for greater renewable energies – but who encompass more conservative viewpoints.

However, the Free Voters also campaign for social issues, such as free daycare for families.

With the Greens, for example, the CSU's sees considerable differences in content in the areas of domestic politics and environmental protection.

It is also unclear whether the SPD, who snagged a historically low 9.7 percent of the vote, would still be prepared to meet with the CSU for exploratory talks – which their leadership board wants to discuss on Sunday, reported DPA. This option would only come into effect if talks with Greens and Free Voters failed.

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POLITICS

Turks in Germany predict artist exodus after Erdogan reelection

Turkish artists and intellectuals living in Germany fear that a whole generation of creative young people will leave Turkey after Erdogan's historic election win.

Turks in Germany predict artist exodus after Erdogan reelection

Turkish artist Bugra Erol, 36, has worked between Berlin and Istanbul over the last few years but his country’s decision to re-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spurred him to move his studio to Germany
for good.

“Life has been difficult for artists like me in the last decade and the result of the last election was the cherry on the cake,” he told AFP.

“I feel like I spent all my life with the struggle,” said Erol, who first came to Berlin in 2017 in search of more artistic freedom.

Erdogan, who enters his third decade of rule with Sunday’s historic victory, has overseen the country’s worst economic crisis since the 1990s with inflation running at more than 40 percent.

He has also caused growing consternation with his crackdowns on dissent, with thousands of opposition figures and campaigners jailed since an attempted coup in 2016.

READ ALSO: Turkish diaspora voters head to polls in Germany

Refuge for dissidents

Isil Egrikavuk, a performance artist and academic based in Berlin, believes many of her peers will choose to leave Turkey.

“People have been leaving increasingly” since the Gezi Park protests of 2013 and “in the last years these numbers increased also”, she said.

“Some people were waiting for the result of the elections, of course, to determine whether to leave or stay. And I think with this result, the brain migration will continue.”

Egrikavuk, 42, points to “a bit of relief in seeing that (Erdogan) won with a very close margin”.

Turkish citizens voting in Germany

A man casts his vote at a polling station at the Turkish consulate general in Hürth, western Germany. Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa / AFP) / Germany OUT

“That shows that he is not so strong any more, half of the country doesn’t want him,” she said. But she also sees “hopelessness or sadness or despair among the opposition, or people who are more open minded and liberal, who want more freedom”.

There are roughly three million people of Turkish origin or descent living in Germany, the largest diaspora outside Turkey.

A clear majority of Turks in Germany voted for Erdogan in both the first election two weeks ago and the runoff on Sunday.

The so-called Turkish guest workers who arrived in the 1960s were often religious working-class people from rural areas and have passed on their values to their children — many of whom vote Erdogan today.

But Germany has also become a refuge for Turkish dissidents in recent years, attracting artists, musicians and academics who have clashed with the government or grown frustrated with restrictions on their freedom.

‘Still hope’

Some politicians in Germany have also expressed disappointment with the election result, including Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir — who himself has Turkish roots.

Ozdemir accused Erdogan’s supporters in a tweet of celebrating his victory “without having to answer for the consequences of their vote”.

Many people in Turkey would have to continue living in poverty and with restrictions on their freedom, he said. “They are rightly angry. This will have to be talked about!”

READ ALSO: Turks in Germany hope for citizenship law overhaul

Exiled journalist Can Dundar, who has been living in Berlin since 2016 with an arrest warrant against him in Turkey, also believes many young creatives will now leave Turkey.

“The country is unbearable now for (young people) in every sense, economically, psychologically, sociologically, daily life is destroyed, economic conditions are horrible,” he told AFP.

But Dundar, who was handed a jail sentence after his Cumhuriyet newspaper published an article criticising the government, has always intended to return home.

“From the first day, it was my target to go back and struggle for the reestablishment of Turkish democracy. And I still want to do so,” he said.

He believes “there is still hope” of shifting Turkey away from autocratic rule.

“Turkey is not a proper democracy like France or Germany, but it’s not Belarus or Iran,” he said.

Likewise, Erol said he will “always be part of the struggle to live the life we want.

“Istanbul will always be my real home.”

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