Immigration Law 'Hits Turks Below the Belt'

The boycott by four major organizations representing the Turkish community in Germany of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's much-vaunted integration summit (more...) threatened to overshadow the event as it took shape on Thursday. ---- Their main bone of contention is a new immigration law which contains measures they consider discriminatory -- for example, a stipulation that future spouses can only come to Germany if they can prove knowledge of German, a rule that does not apply to Americans, Japanese or European Union citizens and seems to have been created with Turks in mind. "That is discrimination," said Kenan Kolat, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) organization.