A young woman in a bun waits impatiently in front of the entrance to the Turkish Consulate General. When her parents come out, she breathes a sigh of relief. Finally, they have put their cross. Now it's time to get out of here, away from Turkish soil. Her parents, like thousands that day, came to the polling station in Frankfurt to vote on Turkey's next president. For the first time in nine years, an opposition candidate has a realistic chance of beating the autocrat Erdogan. They don't want to miss this opportunity.
The young woman introduces herself as a heroine and explains why she herself cannot vote today. She renounced her Turkish citizenship a year ago. As a Kurdish woman, Helin does not particularly identify with her country of origin. She finds it pleasant that the Germans do not exaggerate their nationality as much as the Turks. Helin laughs briefly. "I've only seen a German flag in front of an apartment once," she says. "In Turkey, you see the Turkish flag everywhere."
It took some effort for the family to come here. In the past, it was mainly Erdogan supporters who exercised their right to vote. When Helin and her parents were talking Kurdish to each other in the queue, they felt uncomfortable. Who knows if the man behind you isn't a right-wing extremist or a fanatical Kurdish-hater. In any case, Helin doesn't understand why you are allowed to have a say in the future of a country in which you don't live at all. "Why are people here allowed to vote for the dictatorship in Turkey?" she scolds a few meters away from the crowd.
The queue on Frankfurt's Kennedyallee is a hundred metres long. If you get hungry while waiting, you can buy Turkish sesame rings for 1.50 euros. Car doors are constantly opening and closing. In the middle of the street, relatives let their family members out, because you can forget about parking here.
Erdogan's AKP is not the only party to mobilize in Germany
From the end of April until last Tuesday evening, more than 1.5 million Turks were able to cast their votes in Germany. In Hesse, they had only two options: the consulate general in Frankfurt or a polling station in Kassel. As a result, up to 5000,<> people arrived at Kennedyallee every day to vote. It's the same this Monday. A security service tries to contain the chaos.
Germany is home to the largest Turkish diaspora. The AKP is paying particular attention to this group – and is campaigning intensively in this country despite restrictions. But it is not only Erdogan's AKP that is mobilizing in Germany. On Kennedyallee you can also see minibuses advertising with the face of opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Helin's family also relies on Kilicdaroglu. The secular and ethnic-religious minorities have no alternative, says Helin.
Two weeks ago, the young Kurdish woman was still in the Turkish earthquake zone. Her family comes from Kahramanmaras, one of the cities worst devastated by the earthquake. The AKP government's crisis management is miserable, she says. Helin's voice takes on a sarcastic tone: "But hey, he built roads and hospitals," she teases the arguments of his supporters.