The controversy in Germany over integration and assimilation

"Erdogan's visit and the reactions to the tragic fire in Ludwigshafen have reminded us once again that only part of the Turkish minority shares the new-found German enthusiasm for integration," writes Eric Gujer. "At the same time the renewed flaring up of the integration debate has shown how heterogeneous the Turkish community in Germany has become. Various representatives of Turkish associations asked to speak and eloquently stated their views, with most of them calling for a broad measure of integration. Fifteen years ago there were relatively few representatives of this kind - and most of them regarded themselves as champions of Turkish state interests. Nowadays there is a wide spectrum of influential people, including writers and intellectuals, whose views range from moderate Islamist to radically secular and who receive a hearing among the majority society. Ten years ago there were no audible German-Turkish voices that would have been capable of eliciting a response in an intellectual debate."

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