Merkel thanks Turkish migrants

In a special interview to the Hurriyet daily on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Turkish labor force migration to Germany, German Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked Turks for making great contributions to her country's achievements in economy. Merkel said that many Turkish people living in Germany were a part of this country and its cultural diversity and that a lot of Turkish entrepreneurs have opened employment areas and provided young people with vocational training there and thus sets an example to young migrants. Merkel defined the adaptation of Turkish migrants as one of the central tasks that Germany should overcome, adding that their success in this issue depends on not only life stories of these young people, but also the extent to which Germany is prepared for future. Merkel said that both migrants and the society which accepts them should contribute to the adaptation efforts and requested migrants to be a part of this society in an effective way, try to learn their language and internalize the German legal system. "It has been initially difficult for some people to make efforts towards adaptation, but today we can see that the tests with regard to acquiring citizenship or language certificates, which were firstly criticized for being a heavy burden and then adopted, could have provided many people with new opportunities," said Merkel. She added that Germany was against all sorts of crimination which were also prohibited by German laws and that this is particularly applicable to fields of training and professions.