COLOGNE (AA) - The first Turkish and Muslim candidate of the German Christian Democrats in federal elections, Cemile Giousouf, is seeking a victory in Sunday’s election. Her candidacy shows the slowly changing attitudes in Germany’s ruling party towards Turkish and Muslim immigrants. The CDU is still skeptical about Turkey’s EU membership but has given up on offering a ‘privileged partnership’ instead of full membership.
For the first time in their history, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats have put forward a Turkish-Muslim candidate, Cemile Giousouf, to run for the federal election.
The 35 year old Giousouf is confident that the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will attract Turkish voters and show growing interest in addressing the political demands of immigrants in the next legislation period.
“There has been a significant change in the CDU’s approach towards immigrants,” Giousouf said on Thursday in an exclusive interview with AA.
“This is not only symbolic. The CDU is strongly investing in integration policies, policies towards immigrants” she added. "We would like to ensure equal chances for all, particularly in education and employment.”
Turks are the largest immigrant group in Germany with a population of close to three million, 1 million of whom have become German citizens. The number of German-Turkish voters is estimated to be around 700 thousand.
In the past, Turkish immigrants largely favored the Social Democrats and Greens in general elections but the recent opening of the CDU towards immigrants may introduce a change, according to Cemile Giousouf, whose parents belong to the Turkish minority in Greece.
New generation of Turks
“Turkish immigrants had traditionally voted for the Social Democrats in the past, the majority of them were blue-collar workers,” said Cemile Giousouf. “But the new generations of Turkish immigrants are now coming from different socio-economic backgrounds and accordingly have different criteria in deciding which party to vote for.”
Today around 100 thousand Turkish immigrants own small or middle size enterprises in Germany and a sizeable number of immigrants are highly skilled professionals. According to Giousouf, issues like the economy, finance policies or taxes, play a large role in their political preferences.
But still problems like racism, discrimination in everyday life, the demand for dual-citizenship, and Turkey’s EU membership remain important topics for the Turkish-German electorate.
Merkel’s CDU had long favored strict policies on immigration and, due to the party’s opposition to Turkey’s EU membership, many Turks cooled towards the party.
Changing attitudes in Merkel’s party
Cemile Giousouf pointed out that there are different ideas inside the CDU on the issue of dual-citizenship, a major demand of Turkish immigrants, and the divisive issue of Turkey’s EU membership.
While Chancellor Merkel had long been skeptical about Turkey’s EU membership and opposed dual-citizenship for Turkish immigrants, CDU leaders in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), including former integration minister Armin Laschet, are supporting the demands raised by immigrants.
The NRW is the most populous German state and has the largest immigrant population. CDU candidate Cemile Giousouf is running for a seat in parliament to represent the city of Hagen in the NRW which also has a large immigrant community.
According to Cemile Giousouf, being a Muslim and doing politics in the Christian Democratic Union is not always easy, but is absolutely exciting.
“During my campaign visits in the city of Hagen, some older people have asked me, how am I going to support Christian Democrat policies as a Muslim”, Giousouf told AA. “And I am telling them that there are more similarities than differences among our religions” she said, adding that devout Christians, like devout Muslims, want to have religion courses in schools.
Fighting against discrimination
Cemile Giousouf is delighted with the strong support she received from the young generation of German-Turks in the city of Hagen during her campaign. Giousouf says that if she is elected, her main priorities will be developing policies towards ensuring equal opportunities in education and employment, as many immigrants still face discrimination in entering high-ranked schools and securing employment.
Giousouf’s campaign visits to many immigrant families have confirmed that dual-citizenship continues to be a key demand of many voters of Turkish origin.
“It is my hope and belief that after the elections this issue of dual-citizenship will be discussed in our party again” Giousouf told AA. “We, as politicians with immigrant backgrounds, will definitely support this,” she expressed. "I believe that the CDU will gain more support from Turkish immigrants in the future, if we can introduce a change here.”
Abandoning ‘privileged partnership’
On the issue of Turkey’s EU membership process, Giousouf indicated ongoing discussions among conservative politicians by saying, “In the CDU’s election program, we are not using the term privileged partnership anymore.”
Almost a decade ago, the German Christian Democrats offered Turkey a ‘privileged partnership’ with the EU rather than a full membership.
Merkel-led coalition governments stressed respect for earlier agreements between the EU and Turkey and supported the continuation of negotiations with Ankara in an "open-ended" process. Despite the continued skepticism of Merkel and many CDU leaders on Turkey’s possible full membership, they have abandoned the ‘privileged partnership’ offer.
“For Germany, Turkey offers big advantages,” Cemile Giousouf told AA. “Inside our party, everybody is aware that Turkey can offer big advantages, in terms of economy, in terms of its regional role,” she explained. "Turkey would be a big gain for the EU. I am personally for an open discussion on Turkey’s EU membership.”
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