(Deutsche Welle) Politicians in Germany expressed concern Monday about the use of Turkish ultra-nationalist symbols during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent state visit.
Erdogan supporters welcomed him with the Grey Wolves (Bozkurt) hand sign when he arrived in Cologne to open Germany’s largest mosque run by DITIB, a Turkish-Germanic Islamic organization funded by Ankara.
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Integration Minister Serap Güler told Deutschlandfunk that anyone who had seen the disturbing images of right-wing extremists in Chemnitz could not remain silent, even if the extremists were in a minority.
DITIB had not used the opening of the mosque to demonstrate integration, she added, insisting that the association had to decide if it wanted to operate as a political organization or occupy itself with the religious concerns of local Muslims.
