The new Dava party, which is close to Turkish President Erdoğan, is being sharply criticized by politicians. In the foreground: the fear of a further division in society.
The establishment of a German branch of the Turkish ruling party AKP has met with criticism. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to “disintegrate” people of Turkish origin in Germany and “build a parallel world,” said the President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, on Monday to the Welt TV channel. The AKP wants to divide “our society” with this. Criticism also came from various parties.
The SPD co-chair Saskia Esken made a similar judgment in an interview with the broadcaster. “For me it is important that we make it clear to our fellow citizens of Turkish origin in Germany that Germany belongs together, that we are one people, that we will not allow forces like these right-wing extremist networks to come close to power who want to deport migrants, but of course the divisive tendencies of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan must not play a role here either.”
New party to run in European elections
The newly founded party operates under the name Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening (Dava) and reportedly wants to run in the European elections. The Turkish news agency Anadolu reported, citing the founding manifesto, that Dava wanted to be a “strong voice for the politically underrepresented.”
Four men who are said to have previously worked for President Erdoğan’s Islamic-conservative ruling party AKP or its front-line organizations have been named as the top candidates for the European elections. Read more about the new party and its goals here.
Unlike national elections, there is currently no threshold for the European elections in Germany – i.e. a minimum threshold that must be overcome in order to be represented in the EU Parliament. Mathematically, less than one percent of the vote is enough to send a representative.
Sharp criticism across party lines
The Union took the founding of the party as an opportunity to renew its criticism of the planned reform of citizenship law. The CDU and CSU had “explicitly warned that easier dual citizenship would make it attractive to found an Erdoğan branch in Germany,” wrote deputy parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn on Monday on X, formerly Twitter.
Loading…
Embed
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) made a similar statement after a cabinet meeting: “We think it’s wrong to now found parties that give the impression that German politics should be influenced from outside.”
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) wrote on X: “An Erdoğan offshoot running for elections here is the last thing we need.”
“This is a party that obviously wants to divide,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr. “We should look for the political debate very clearly.” SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich was cautious: It remains to be seen whether the party will become relevant at all.
