Refugee politics, the military coup, democratic rights, integration of Muslims – EM Germany’s discussion format “Staatsminister im Dialog” spanned a broad variety of topics on Tuesday 27 September. More than 80 guests had come to hear and discuss the views of Minister of State Michael Roth and Gökay Sofuoğlu, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD). Very openly, both admitted that Turkey was right to complain about a lack of empathy after the coup attempt in July. However, the situation now is worrying as far as rule of law, democracy and civil rights such as freedom of press are concerned. Cancelling accession talks would be the worst thing to do, Roth warned: “We have to open chapters 23 and 24 as that is the only way to try to influence how things go in Turkey”, Roth stated.

Read the report in German: http://www.netzwerk-ebd.de/nachrichten/ebd-staatsminister-im-dialog-die-tuerkei-und-europa-wie-weiter/