Germany split over adding language to constitution against Turkish

The measure, if passed by the German Parliament, would insert the statement: "The language of the Federal Republic of Germany is German," Britain's The Guardian daily reported Tuesday on its online edition.

But supporters admitted the move would have no practical effect and it was swiftly condemned by immigrant and anti-discrimination groups, it added.

Germany is home to more than 3 million people of Turkish descent and has more than 10 million immigrants.

The head of the state of Saarland, Peter Mueller, who was behind the push, told The Guardian that the CDU needed to clarify "what the nation stands for" and added that if people did not speak German, the promise of social mobility was "an empty promise". CDU's support came despite its leadership's opposition to the legislation.

The motion was meant to be inclusive while reminding immigrants of their responsibilities, the British newspaper quoted Mueller's spokesman Henrik Eitel as saying.

"It's as much an invitation as a demand," Eitel said. "There is a problem here that some parts of the immigrant communities don't have proper access to the German language," he added.

Mueller said the constitutions of France, Austria and Switzerland included similar statements and admitted the change would have no practical effect, but denied it was a political attack on immigrants.

"Germany obviously has a special history and a special responsibility to people of all backgrounds but I don't think this is pointing to any nationalistic direction. To us it just seems to be common sense. If somebody does not speak the language, he would not get anywhere."

Aylin Selcuk, a Turkish community youth leader who has advised Chancellor Merkel, agreed immigrants needed German to get ahead in life but questioned whether this was the CDU's motive.

"If this is the only aim, there are better ways to realize it," she told The Guardian. "Why do something symbolic? Why don't they invest more money in language classes instead of changing the constitution? It might have more to do with fear about having a minority in their country," she added.

"This kind of thing is not necessary; I don't know what kind of signal they're trying to send, Gerd Pflaumer, spokesman for the anti-discrimination group Aktion Courage, told the British daily.

The CDU's secretary General Ronald Pofalla had tried to delay the resolution but was outnumbered by the party's rank and file, the newspaper added.