After racism criticism
Turkish community appalled by Aslan case
The central administration of the University of Police and Public Administration North Rhine-Westphalia in Gelsenkirchen. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
The outrage over the expulsion of the lecturer Bahar Aslan from the police academy in North Rhine-Westphalia continues. The Turkish community in Germany is defending Aslan, who was fired after a tweet.
The Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) was appalled at the expulsion of lecturer Bahar Aslan from the police academy in Gelsenkirchen.
“Anyone who dismisses a committed lecturer because she points to racist structures within the police is part of the racism problem in Germany,” said federal chairman Gökay Sofuoglu, according to a statement. “Ms. Aslan only expressed what countless people in Germany feel, what they experience and what they are afraid of.”
Serhat Ulusoy, state chairman of the Turkish Federation in North Rhine-Westphalia, called for the decision to be withdrawn and worked out with those responsible. The author Aslan had a teaching position for “intercultural skills” at the university, which was not renewed because of a tweet.
“All the brown dirt inside the security agencies”
The university announced on Monday that Aslan was unsuitable for conveying an unprejudiced or well-founded view of democracy, tolerance and neutrality due to her current statements. The background is this tweet from Aslan: “My heart starts racing when I or my friends get into a police check because all the brown dirt inside the security authorities scares us. That’s not just my reality, but that of many people in this country.”
TGD Chairman Sofuoglu said: “Nobody describes the police as such as ‘brown dirt’, and those who are giving that impression now have failed to understand key promises of our constitution.” He referred to the investigation into the NSU, to chat groups that showed right-wing extremist attitudes among police officers, and “racial profiling”. This is when people are controlled based on their appearance or ethnic characteristics.