What does Germany want from Turkey and Turks?

According to figures released by the Federal Statistics Department in Germany, a country where 8.2 million people with foreign passports live, there are 1,527,118 citizens of the Turkish Republic living in Germany. But when we consider the German citizens of Turkish origin and those who do not have a Turkish passport due to various reasons, we know that the number goes up to 3 million.

Among Germany's population of 82 million, 3 million people of Turkish origin is not such a high number, but still, they are in a minority position that cannot be underestimated.

For decades, our people living in Germany have contributed greatly to the economic stability of the country with great effort. They adopted and came to love Germany as their second land. Of course, when it comes to football games, and when there is a competition between Turkey and Germany, their hearts race for Turkey. However, while Germany is playing with another country, many Turks can be seen among the ardent supporters of Germany, as if they ethnically belong to Germany. In brief, Turks have turned into Germans.

Despite all the problems they had, they were happy in Germany.

However, in recent years, they have been struggling to understand some of the developments.

As one of the leading EU countries against Turkey's EU membership, Germany's Turkey policy, which has been criticized, is now upsetting Turks living in Germany.

Previously, they were marginalized in Germany due to the fact that they were Muslims and from Turkey and now our people are upset since they are currently exposed to discrimination since they are Sunnis and Turks.

Since being a radical Alevi or a radical Kurd started to be cherished and supported in every way, being Sunni or Turkish has become to mean facing marginalization. While a radical Alevi or Kurd expressing their sympathies for the outlawed PKK faces no problem, one expressing sympathies for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) can face many problems of discrimination, which can go as far as being discharged him from the political party they are a member of.

And if a Turk living in Germany likes and supports President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they can be confronted with many problems in various spheres.

This is really an unfortunate case for a country that boasts being the apostle of democracy.

The demonstrations and meetings against Turkey are being supported, while some politicians of Turkish origin are discharged from their political parties – namely the Greens and Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) – since they support the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

While all the articles and reports released by German media outlets concerning Turkey are full of lies as if they are fabricated by a single source, opinions defending Turkey are not covered intentionally.

In EU-Turkey relations, Germany has been in the position of blocking, hindering or covertly standing against Turkey in recent years.

While the outlawed PKK, which Germany once listed as illegal only because it occupied highways, is turning Turkey into a bloodbath, the reactions coming from Germany vaguely condemn the PKK only for the sake of formality. And there is almost no support from Germany for Turkey's rightful struggle against the PKK.

In addition, Germany has decided to pull out its Patriot missile defense batteries deployed in Turkey with the aim of bolstering Turkey as a NATO ally while Turkey is in a state of war with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the PKK and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Syrian dictator, President Bashar Assad is leveling threats to Turkey. This move naturally and rightfully has made us curious about Germany's intentions and motivations.

In addition, former Prosecutors Zekeriya Öz and Celal Kara, who are responsible for the deaths and imprisonments of many people in the scope of the Ergenekon cases, which were conducted in defiance of the principles of a state of law under the control of the "parallel structure," a political mafia organization based in Turkey, were made to stay at a hotel run by someone affiliated with the "parallel structure" in Hanau, Germany. Since this information cannot be within the knowledge of Germany, this case demonstrates the gravity of the situation.

Germany has close relations with Iran and tolerates the PKK only because of the assumption that it fights against ISIS, even though Germany itself suffered a great deal from the Red Army Faction (RAF) and the Baader-Meinhof Group. It also pursues a policy with Assad as if it has no problem in Syria, and engages in close relations due to economic reasons with the Egyptian dictator, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who violated the norms and values of democracy in his land. If all these political moves require an anti-Turkey stance, this is a wrong policy.

Turkey-Germany relations should not be sacrificed for trifle calculations and short-term policies. But the current picture shows that it is going this way.

However, maintaining Turkish-German relations by considering mutual interests will benefit the two countries, the EU and our region to a great extent. These mistakes will hopefully be realized in Germany.