PM Erdoğan calls on Turks in France to apply for dual citizenship

LYON

'Feel proud of your identity. In particular, do not forget or allow your language and beliefs to be forgotten,' PM Erdoğan tells Turks in France.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Turkish citizens living in France to apply for dual citizenship and be integrated with French society, but also to stay loyal to their roots and avoid "assimilation."

"There are 620,000 Turkish citizens living in France," Erdoğan said, while addressing a meeting of the Union of European Turkish Democrats (UETD) in Lyon on June 21. "Why don't they apply for dual citizenship?" 

"You should use your legal rights. It is something you will benefit from, it has no harm. Whoever says the opposite is doing no good for you," he said. 

Social integration was among the issues discussed by Erdoğan and French President François Hollande at a Paris meeting on June 20. 

Erdoğan advised Turks in France not to forget about their French citizenship, but also not to become assimilated or allow their children to become assimilated. "Feel proud of your identity. In particular, do not forget or allow your language and beliefs to be forgotten. France needs people like you," he said. 

The European Union needs Turkey in its "struggle against Islamophobia and racism," the prime minister added. 

Erdoğan repeated his call for families to have "at least three children," and even said "five would be OK." 

He also requested that Turkish citizens in France go to the ballots to vote in Turkey's presidential elections, set to be held on Aug. 10.