Berlin, March 24: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Germany, where some three million people of Turkish origin live, to loosen its rules for dual citizenship, in remarks to be published Thursday.
“I find it very regrettable that Germany is among the countries in the European Union that does not allow it (dual citizenship)” he told the German weekly Die Zeit.
“I hope that Germany will also allow it one day,” he said ahead of a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel to Turkey March 29 and 30.
Germany only allows citizens to take the nationality of another state in exceptional circumstances, such as in the case of European Union citizens who have lived in Germany for eight years.
A child of foreign parents born in Germany can obtain dual citizenship if one parent has lived in the country regularly for at least eight years. But the child must choose one of the two nationalities by his 23rd birthday.
Erdogan underlined his support for Turkish secondary schools in Germany.
“In Turkey, we have German high schools — why shouldn’t there be Turkish high schools in Germany?” he asked.
—Agencies