News from Berlin – The Olympic Stadium, usually home to football club Hertha BSC, and where Helene Fischer will soon be in concert, is to become a voting ground for tens of thousands of Turkish nationals. The embassy has now asked for official approval and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently undertaking an inspection.

As the premier cup draws closer, the Turkish Embassy  has officially put in a request as to whether the Olympic Stadium can become a polling station for the 140 000 Turks living in the German capital Berlin, as they are to vote for their next Turkish President this coming August.

A speaker from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs confirmed that they had received verbal notice of the concept over the past week and that it had been passed on to the Federal Ministry of the Interior for an inspection of the security queries.

According to the “Bild-Zeitung” and the “B.Z.” there are to be seven different polling stations across Germany apart from in Berlin; Sport halls and Trade Fair Locations are to be used in Hannover, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt/Main, Karlsruhe and Munich.

The concept is to be speedily inspected, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.  In February Federal Chancellor Merkel confirmed the support by the German federal government at a meeting with Turkish Minister President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also a possible presidential candidate. Back then she said that they would be in close contact as to how the voting would take place, from an organizational point of view so that that those with Turkish citizenships living in Germany would also be able to take part in the polls.

These will not be the first foreign poll, where citizens living in Germany are able to cast their votes, the speaker also said. Italy, Egypt and Iraq are some examples of countries that had made use of the opportunity too. The Olympic Stadium provides space for an audience of 75,000.

Berlin Global - News from Berlin