Turkish store owner Sahin Yalcin couldn't be happier these days. His favorite German soccer team has won all three games during the World Cup so far, and he has nearly sold out of the red, black and gold flags he has been offering for euro2 (US$2.50).

German Chanellor Angela Merkel (L) and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan [filephoto]

A big German flag hung in front of Yalcin's tiny store in Berlin's buzzing Turkish immigrant neighborhood of Neukoelln. He hoped to sell his last 100 flags -stacked between water pipes, imported tea kettles and suitcases -before Germany's next World Cup game against Sweden on Saturday.

The team's success has united people across cultural boundaries, with Germany's 2.7-million-strong Turkish immigrant population cheering for their adopted country's team as their own.

"Almost all of the people who are buying my flags are Turkish or Arabic," said Yalcin, a 33-year-old who was born in Berlin and speaks fluent German. "We love soccer and we certainly want Germany to win -this is our home and we're proud of our team."

Turkish youngsters have been leading spontaneous car parades after the team's victories with loud honking, while the girls proudly wear Germany's national colors painted on their cheeks, foreheads and arms.

"It's so great how Germans and Turkish are celebrating together after every victory," said Nevzat Cavan, 54, who was enjoying a cup of tea --in the traditional Turkish small glass with two lumps of sugar --at the Oranien-Cafe with his friends in Berlin's other immigrant enclave of Kreuzberg.

"If it weren't for our different looks --the black hair and the blond hair --I wouldn't even be able to tell who's German and who's Turkish in the fan crowd."

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