No: 338, 03 November 2014

It is unacceptable that a caricature published in "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" in November 2011 in Germany, with an insulting content on the President of Turkey and the Turkish community living in Germany, was reprinted in a supplementary school textbook in the State of Baden Württemberg (B-W) under the pretext of the integration problems of Turks living in Germany.

Inclusion of such a caricature in textbooks is a reflection of racism and xenophobia, which are unfortunately on the rise in Germany. Such acts, conducted under the guise of freedom, constituting a blatant violation of personal rights and also inciting hatred, Islamophobia and xenophobia have no place in democracies.

We do not accept the inclusion of such a caricature, in a textbook, insulting our President and our citizens living in Germany under no circumstances and condemn it strongly.

Such practices do not only harm the integration and participation process of all Muslims, particularly Turkish citizens, living in Germany, but also represent the biggest obstacle to these processes and constitute the real reason for the failure of integration policies as they create the feeling of exclusion among the Turkish people and Muslims in Germany. We expect that such acts are revised as soon as possible and the German authorities display the necessary sensitivity to prevent the recurrence of such unacceptable incidents promptly.