Christmas 'ban' at German school in Istanbul outrages Berlin

School says reports they are not allowing students and teachers to celebrate are false, claiming German teachers cancelled carol singing of their own volition

People walk along Istiklal Avenue as snow falls in Istanbul (AFP/Getty Images)

Reports that a German school in Turkey has banned Christmas celebrations – sparking widespread condemnation back home – are not true, according to the institution at the centre of the story.

The row started last week when the school principal sent an email to all staff reminding them that Christmas was not to be celebrated during class time, including through singing carols. The Christian festival was not on the curriculum and so it should not be taught, the missive said.

The story was picked up by German media, who alleged the school choir was also forced to cancel a festive performance at the German consulate.

On Sunday the foreign ministry in Berlin released a statement condemning the actions of the school, with some politicians even suggesting its funding could be removed.

“We don't understand the surprising decision by the management of the Istanbul Lisesi,” the German foreign ministry said.

“It is too bad that the good tradition of pre-Christmas intercultural exchanges at the school with a long German-Turkish tradition has been suspended," it added in a statement.

“We are of course taking this up with our Turkish partners.”

But the allegations were swiftly denied by the Istanbul Lisesi school, a Turkish-German bilingual academy which receives some financial backing from the German government, which denied banning Christmas and said the media had misrepresented the situation.

“The reports in German media about restrictions on Christmas festivities of German teachers do not reflect reality,” it said.

A choir performance had been cancelled, it said, but by the German teachers involved in the event, who had pulled out.

“A concert was cancelled by the German teachers in question without explanation and there is no question of the school or its management placing an obstacle in its way or prohibiting it."

Ruling AKP party MP Mustafa Yeneroglu also denied the claims, saying they were irresponsible. “Such false reports do nothing for Turkey-Germany relations,” he said.

But German politicians still reacted angrily to the claims, and several newspapers ran the story on the front page on Monday.

The Greens' education policy spokesman Ozcan Mutlu said the alleged ban was “simply shocking”, adding that if it remains in place the schools funding could come in to question.

Other politicians seized upon the alleged incident, seeking to contextualise it in recent friction between the two countries.

Relations between Ankara and Berlin have been strained since Turkey's failed military coup in July, with Germany repeatedly expressing concern over the scope of a massive crackdown on Mr Erdogan's opponents.

Andreas Scheuer, the general secretary of the Bavarian CSU party said the move was “new proof that (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan's Turkey is burning all bridges with Europe."

He told local media: "Christmas is part of Germany, and that applies too for a German school abroad."