Ankara  - European countries with ethnic Turkish residents should respect their identity and assure their rights in working life and in society, a top Ankara minister said Thursday.

Faruk Celik, the Turkish minister in charge of affairs of Turks living abroad, told an international experts' conference that assimilation of immigrants was denigrating to them.

But he also said that immigrants should integrate themselves into society and learn to speak the local language, citing for example that they should learn to speak German as well as the Germans.

Celik said that differences posed a wealth to societies, and immigrants were making their contribution through their culture and religion and not just their labour.

His remarks came at a conference organized by the Ankara government to assess the situation of some 5 million ethnic Turks living abroad, including 4 million in European countries.

Some 400 experts, many from Germany where Turks make up the largest of foreign ethnic groups in the country, were attending the conference lasting until Saturday.(dpa)