Protesters in Berlin gathered outside CDU headquarters.Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Germany on Thursday to protest the conservative Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union parties.

In rare public statement, Merkel criticizes her party's decision to pass anti-immigration proposal with critical support of far-right party - Anadolu Ajansı

The AfD party is polling at about 20% before Germany's February 23 elections, a record for a party. The mainstream conservative CDU/CSU alliance leads with about 30%.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany on Thursday after a controversial motion demanding migration reforms was passed in parliament the previous day with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

German members of parliament held an emotional debate about whether to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Thursday, after it helped to pass a controversial motion in parliament the previous day demanding hard-line migration reforms.