According to top candidate Fatih Zingal, DAVA wants to appeal to people with an immigrant background; people with a Muslim and Turkish background are strongly represented. The picture shows jubilation in Berlin over Erdoğan's victory in the referendum on a presidential system in April 2017, which Zingal publicly supported.
Image: dpa
The new association's top candidate says many Germans with a Turkish background are fed up with always being asked about the president of Turkey. The new party also wants to represent these people.
Why did you and others found the political association “Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening” (DAVA)?
We have noticed that there is an increasing gap between those represented and those who are represented; people with an immigration background in particular are not taken seriously in the established parties.
And you want to address them in the European elections?
Everyone with an immigration history is meant; people with a Muslim and Turkish background are strongly represented. It's about people who were born and grew up in Germany and want to take part in social life, but don't feel like they are part of society because they are always reduced to their immigration history – even within the established parties. Turks are asked about Turkish policy issues, for example. The question is then asked very bluntly: Are you for or against Erdoğan? You then have to commit yourself and each individual feels like a kind of quasi-ambassador for Turkey.