"SECRET," the top of the densely typewritten document reads. Underneath, an official had added a handwritten note: "NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION."
It was a controversial plan that the newly elected German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, confided to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during her visit to Bonn, then the West German capital. "Chancellor Kohl said (...) over the next four years, it would be necessary to reduce the number of Turks in Germany by 50 percent -- but he could not say this publicly yet," state the secret minutes of the meeting dated Oct. 28, 1982.
It adds: "It was impossible for Germany to assimilate the Turks in their present numbers." Only four people were in the room at the time: Kohl, his longtime adviser Horst Teltschik, Thatcher and her private secretary A.J. Coles, the author of the document. [SPIEGEL ONLINE] Read more
