Muslim Turkish woman born and brought up in Switzerland fails citizenship test

A 25-year-old Turkish woman who was born and brought up in Switzerland after she failed the notoriously difficult Swiss citizenship requirements because she “shows no interest” to enter in conversation with the country and its population, reported The Guardian.

Funda Yilmaz works as a draughtswoman in the town of Aarau, and applied for citizenship after her Swiss fiancé suggested that she should take a more active part in the referendum that make up the country’s unusual mix of direct and representative democracy.



The more important question pertaining to this event is the fact that the Swiss citizens are confused whether foreign residents need to know how to recycle waste oil or exhibit knowledge of the sport of ‘hornussing’ before they can apply for citizenship? Some of the puzzling questions also included whether the applicant shopped at local corner shops or supermarkets as well.

“I was born here. I don’t know any other life,” she told a panel of six examiners at the interview which follows the written test. “I don’t have plans to emigrate either.” Yet after two rounds of interviews and more than a 100 questions, a jury of local councellors of the municipality of Buchs rejected Yilmaz’s application.

The vote was 20 to 12 with the reasoning that she “lives in a small world and shows no interest in entering a dialogue with Switzerland and its population,” a verdict that has been challenges and questioned after weekly news magazine Schweizer Illustrierte published a transcript of the interview.

The jury criticised Yilmaz for displaying “gaps” in her knowledge of the municipal recycling system and for not being able to name any local shops other than chain supermarkets such as Aldi. Another complaint centred around her unfamiliarity with “typical Swiss sports”, such as Hornussen, an indigenous cross between baseball and golf, or Schwingen, a style of folk wrestling.

Yilmaz had named skiing as a typical Swiss sport. “One could have a very long debate about what is typical and traditional,” she wrote in a letter complaining about her rejection. Asked in the interview about her views of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Yilmaz had replied: “He is becoming more and more of a dictator.”

In her letter, she added: “I was asked whether my parents found it difficult to accept my partner, who is not Turkish. My family is open and moreover I am not a practising Muslim. I have never visited in a mosque in my life, but have several times been to a church.”

Other questions chosen by the jury included “Do you like hiking?”, “Would you rather visit Geneva or the region around Lake Geneva?” and “What kind of fitness training do you do?”



Ever since Yilmaz’s case saw the light of day, many have stood for a reform of the naturalization process which is decided by municipal juries comprised of local residents rather than an institutionalised agency. “The arbitrary nature of the official process has rarely been so visibly on display,” wrote the Tagesanzeiger newspaper.

In February, Switzerland voted to make it easier for third-generation immigrants to become citizens, rejecting the complaints of rightwing politicians that the proposed measures would pose a security risk. Until now, a fast-track route to citizenship has been open only to foreigners who had been married to Swiss citizens for more than six years, including those who have never lived in the country.