Kenan Kolat

Kenan Kolat (born August 24, 1959 in Istanbul ) was Federal Chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany from 2005 to 2014 . V. (TGD). The graduate engineer ( maritime transport technology ) is a German and Turkish citizen . Kolat is a member of the SPD .

Life

Kolat came to Berlin at the age of 21. Until 2017 he was married to Dilek Kolat , the Senator for Labor, Integration and Women of the State of Berlin. In order to avoid conflicts of interest after his wife became a senator, Kenan Kolat resigned from his position as the paid managing director of the Turkish Federation in Berlin-Brandenburg at the end of 2011.

Federal Chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany V.

Kolat took up the post of federal chairman of the TGD on October 22, 2005, succeeding Hakkı Keskin , and resigned it on May 10, 2014, giving health reasons at the time. On April 8, 2015 it became known that Kolat had been urged by the Berlin regional association not to compete again because of alleged financial irregularities. In March 2015, Kolat reported himself to the Berlin public prosecutor's office , which then initiated investigations into breach of trust. The case was dropped in April 2015 for minor guilt.

Positions and opinions

At the beginning of 2008, Kolat described the type of campaign conducted by the Hessian Prime Minister Roland Koch as "political arson". Kolat was "very disappointed" by Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Federal Commissioner for Integration Maria Böhmer , who both stood by the side of the Hessian CDU leader.

In a newspaper interview, Kolat said that when it came to immigrants of Turkish origin in Germany, “participation rather than integration” should be used. “Integration is understood by the majority as a complete adjustment to the majority society and in parts as assimilation. Participation, on the other hand, is participation in all possible areas of life. Both sides are then asked to participate ", he continued and demanded:" The population of German origin must also get involved with the immigrants. "

Kolat took in addition to the integration summits and at the 2006 by the then Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble justified German Islam Conference in part. The results of the 2011 Islam Conference , headed by Federal Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich , were criticized by Kolat.

In 2009, Kolat criticized the inclusion of the subject of genocide against the Armenians or its denial in the curricula and school books of the state of Brandenburg as well as a memorial for Johannes Lepsius planned at the time and announced a corresponding letter of complaint to Chancellor Merkel. These “historical events” have been “treated inadequately and one-sidedly”, the topic “endangers the inner peace” of Turkish students and could put them under “psychological pressure”. The FAZ rated Kolat's intervention as a “discriminatory attempt to incapacitate Turkish students”.

In July 2013, Kolat criticized the Turkish government's violent crackdown on the demonstrators during the protests in Turkey in 2013 and called for Turkey's accession negotiations with the European Union to be postponed . The behavior of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan in the course of the popular protests against him was described by Kolat as “fascistoid” and “arbitrary politics”. Fascistoid is the enforcement of Erdoğan's own interests by force.

After the federal election in 2013, Kolat said during a TGD meeting in Baden-Württemberg that dual citizenship was “the most important agenda of the TGD”. “The SPD promised us it. If the SPD breaks its promise for the second time and disappoints voters of Turkish origin, the Turks will not forget this. ”In this context, he pointed out that 35% of the population in Germany under six years of age have a migration background:“ In twenty years this proportion will be even higher. In some cities this share has already grown to over 75%. Germany has to see this reality. ”These people will rule and lead Germany, emphasized Kolat.

Awards

• 2013 “ Estrongo Nachama Prize for Tolerance and Civil Courage” from the Berlin Meridian Foundation

Web links

• Bringing cultures closer together. Three questions for Kenan Kolat. In: Federal Center for Political Education . July 17, 2006, accessed November 15, 2011 . 
• Katja Tichomirowa: "The term kebab murders makes me angry". Chairman of the Turkish Community. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . November 15, 2011, accessed on November 15, 2011 (Interview with Kolat on the extreme right-wing murder series against migrants ). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ - ( Memento from May 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/rechtsextremismus/kenan-kolat-die-debatte-ueber-integration-ist-nicht-ehrlich-/6095252-3.html
3. ↑ Kenan Kolat's successor has been found. In: morgenpost.de. January 4, 2012, accessed November 24, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Kemal Hür: Turkish Community Germany: Ex-boss reports himself: Deutschlandfunk, April 8, 2015 Link
5. ↑ Unfaithfulness investigation against Kenan Kolat closed. In: Berliner Zeitung . April 23, 2015, accessed April 24, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Martin Klesmann: "You don't like to talk about your own deficits" . Kenan Kolat, chairman of the Turkish community, on Sarrazin's controversial remarks. In: Berliner Zeitung . October 13, 2009.
7. ↑ "Friedrich offends Muslims" - Interview: Die Zeit online, accessed on April 3, 2011
8. ↑ Genocide in the curriculum. The poor students. FAZ, August 7, 2009
9. ↑ Kenan Kolat calls for the negotiations to be postponed. Stern.de, accessed on July 2, 2013
10. ↑ Kolat castigates Erdoğan as "fascistoid" Die Welt, June 3, 2013, accessed on July 2, 2013
11. ↑ The best investment is the migrant. In: Sabah Avrupa. October 21, 2013, archived from the original on April 24, 2016 ; Retrieved April 24, 2016 . 
12. ↑ Kenan Kolat, federal chairman of the Turkish community in Germany, receives the “Estrongo Nachama Prize for Tolerance and Civil Courage” (2013). In: meridian-stiftung.de. Meridian Foundation, May 4, 2013, accessed May 3, 2018 .