Erdogan urges German Turks not to integrate

This article is very interesting because the Turkish government, and particularly the Turkish prime minister urged Turks living in foreign countries not to integrate. He was also quoted as saying assimilation was a “crime against humanity” during a speech in 2008. It is interesting to speculate what affect this sort of rhetoric will have on Turkey’s bid to enter the EU, as well as how difficult it is for Turks living in Germany to hear this sort of imperative from their own government while simultaneously being told by the German government that they must integrate by learning the language etc.  Just how much of one’s culture can they expect to retain when living in  foreign country?