PodcastGermany trying to spot Turks who acquired Turkish citizenship after 2000
German regional authorities have started to contact German citizens of Turkish origin and ask them whether they acquired a second citizenship after 2000, daily Hürriyet said on July 16. Germany's post-2000 law made it possible for the country to withdraw German citizenship from those who had taken up another citizenship following their naturalization in Germany.
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North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federal state, has started to send letters to German citizens of Turkish origin asking them if they acquired Turkish citizenship after 2000, daily Hürriyet reported on July 16.
This is because Germany passed a law in 2000 which forbids people who naturalized in Germany from acquiring a second citizenship. If they do so, they immediately lose their German one.
North Rhine-Westphalia authorities told the recipients that it is compulsory for them to answer the letters.
Some 2.5 million people with a Turkish background currently live in Germany, making them the largest migrant group in the country. Many of them have pushed for the right to keep both Turkish and German passports.