Merkel’s decision to campaign in Turkish drew criticism on social media and, somewhat predictably, also angered her anti-immigration opponents, the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfD’s Berlin branch has installed Russian billboards displaying the message “Whoever is part of this country, loves our country and considers it home, must vote AfD in September”. Other major parties are also taking the multilingual route. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) has published its manifesto online in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Russian. In the UK’s General Election earlier this year, no major national party produced campaign material in a language other than English or Welsh.

Source: The Local September 22, 2017 15:11 UTC