The Foreign Ministry yesterday criticized Germany after the husband of an illiterate Turkish woman complained she had to learn German in order to reside with him in Germany. Mehmet Şirin Aydoğdu filed a petition to Parliament, asking for assistance for his wife Dilan Aydoğdu who was not granted residence in Germany as she failed to learn German, a requirement for a spouse visa. Aydoğdu said he married Dilan, who currently resides in the eastern Turkish province of Batman, in November and sought to arrange a residence permit for her in Frankfurt, where he lives, but to no avail as German authorities refused to grant his spouse a visa since the woman is illiterate and does not speak German. "I will lose my family if my problem cannot be solved," Aydoğdu said in his petition to Parliament. Parliament conveyed the complaint to the Foreign Ministry and the ministry, in a stinging letter to Parliament, bashed Germany's stance on spouse visas. "Using language as a condition for family reunion violates human rights," the letter said. The ministry said in the letter that although Turkey agreed with Germany, that learning German would facilitate foreigners' integration into German society, using this condition to obstruct family reunion contradicted human rights. "This condition is a discriminating practice for citizens of countries that Germany asks for visa. It should be lifted," the letter said. The ministry pointed out that Dilan Aydoğdu should be exempted from the requirement as she cannot acquire basic German skills in a short period of time. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in July that Germany cannot insist that the spouses of Turkish nationals living in the country speak basic German when they apply for the spouse visas. However, Aydoğdu's family has claimed that German authorities have dragged down the process. The requirement has been in force since 2007 for those from outside the European Union who seek to reunite with their partners in Germany. The move aims to promote integration and prevent forced marriage, according to German authorities. The ECJ had ruled that the requirement was against the EU law and an agreement between the European Union and Turkey, signed in the 1970s, prohibited new restrictions on the freedom to settle in European Union countries. The court found the language requirement was "beyond what is necessary," even though Germany's motivation to implement it, for the prevention of forced marriages, may be justified.