Turkey welcomes limited dual citizenship in Germany, demands more

Turkey has welcomed new German legislation that partially removes the citizenship "option model," which affects approximately 3.5 million Turkish immigrants living in Germany, the largest ethnic minority in the country.

A written statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Dec. 22 welcomed the adoption of the new law, but also said a "fair and final solution" to the issue would be enabling dual citizenship for Turks in Germany.
Dual citizenship would "serve to strengthen social integration," said the statement.

According to the agreement between the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the "option model," which required foreigners to choose a single citizenship by the age of 23, has been abolished.

The new regulation aims to provide citizenship to all foreigners in Germany, regardless of their country of origin or date of birth, which is a relative development compared to the previous restrictions.

The coalition government of the Social Democrats and Greens had passed a law in 2000 ruling out dual citizenship.