Turkey summons German envoy over insulting caricature

Turkey has summoned Germany’s Ambassador in outrage over a caricature of Turks that was published in a German school book, diplomatic sources said on Monday.

The caricature, which was originally published in November 2011 in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine, has now been re-published recently in a textbook used in schools in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg.

Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Naci Koru has raised the issue with Ambassador Eberhard Pohl, and Deputy Undersecretary Murat Esenli held a meeting with the German Embassy’s Political Director Hans-Dieter Lucas over the matter as well, diplomatic sources said.

The Turkish officials have demanded an end to this kind of publication, and warned German officials to be sensitive about the issue.

The caricature depicts a Turkish restaurant owner speaking to his customers in broken German, with the caption “Turks in Germany for 50 years: a success story.”

The drawing also shows a doghouse in the background with the word ‘Erdogan’ — the name of the Turkish President – written on it.

In a statement released earlier on Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry declared that it is “unacceptable” to use a cartoon to portray so-called adaptation issues of Turkish immigrants in Germany.