Chancellor Scholz reaches out to German-Turkish voters, defends dual citizenship law

Europe
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 5:58 GMT
Social Democrat chancellor criticizes center-right Christian Democrats for plans to overturn new citizenship law and revoke citizenship for dual nationals.
Chancellor Scholz reaches out to German-Turkish voters, defends dual citizenship law

Social Democrat chancellor criticizes center-right Christian Democrats for plans to overturn new citizenship law and revoke citizenship for dual nationals.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday called on German-Turkish voters to support his Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the upcoming snap elections, pledging to maintain his commitment to addressing immigrants' concerns.

“Germany is a country of immigration—one in four people among us has an immigration background,” the Social Democrat said in a video message posted on social media. “Those who live and work here, who are well-integrated, who speak our language, belong to our country and should have a voice in our democracy,” he stressed.

Scholz sharply criticized his rival Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), for his intention to overturn Germany's new citizenship law and revoke citizenship for dual nationals.

“This threatens to take us backward. Let me be clear: we must not let it get to that point. We must not create divisions between long-time residents and newcomers. Creating such divisions cannot and must not be our path. Unity—that is our way,” he said.

Germany’s new Citizenship Law, which took effect in June 2024, streamlines the process for immigrants to obtain German citizenship and permits dual citizenship. The law has been particularly significant for Germany's Turkish community by eliminating the former requirement to surrender one's original citizenship when becoming German.

The EU’s largest economy is home to nearly 3.5 million Turkish immigrants, many of whom are children or grandchildren of workers who came to the country in the 1960s through a bilateral labor agreement. Nearly half of them currently hold German citizenship. According to various surveys, the majority of German-Turkish voters traditionally support the Social Democrats or the Greens.

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