President Erdogan sets up political party for ‘people with foreign roots’ that will ‘stand against anti-Muslim racism’ in Germany after country’s new laws granted 1.5million Turks the vote

The Turkish president has founded a political party in Germany for ‘people with foreign roots’ that ‘stands against anti-Muslim racism’.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening (DAVA), which was officially founded on January 7, would participate in the European elections taking place in June this year.

The party, which is affiliated with the leader’s own party in Turkey, the AKP, has immediately sparked opposition and concern from other parties in Berlin.

Cem Özdemir, the German Agriculture Minister with a Turkish migration background, wrote on X: “An Erdoğan branch running for elections here is the last thing we need.”

Jens Spahn, vice chairman of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), the largest opposition party, called it “another extreme party in the country”

Last August, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, BAMF, reported a 203% increase in asylum applications from Turkey

While Jens Spahn, vice chairman of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), the largest opposition party, also wrote on X: “An Erdogan-AKP branch in Germany would be another extreme party in the country.”

This comes after the law was changed last month allowing people living outside the EU to have dual citizenship in Germany, which has the potential to give 1.5 million Turks living in Germany the right to vote.

“Currently we see parties emerging everywhere, and their sole purpose and exercise is to ultimately tear Europe apart from within,” German liberal candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told Die Welt when asked about Dava.

The new party is expected to be led by Teyfik Özcan, who has insisted that party finances will all be funded domestically; in Germany it is illegal to receive financing from abroad.

Last August, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, BAMF, reported that more than 23,000 Turkish citizens had applied for asylum in the country so far that year, which was a sharp increase of 203% compared to the same period last year.

The rise of smaller marginal groups in their politics, including the ‘Value Union’ party to the right of the CDU.

On Saturday, pro-Russian politician Sahra Wagenknecht launched her new populist alliance BSW, mixing left-wing prosperity with restrictive migration policies and a sharp anti-war message.