Turks in Germany

Turks in Germany, also referred to as German Turks and Turkish Germans (

Most people of Turkish descent in Germany trace their ancestry to the Gastarbeiter (guest worker) programs in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, in the midst of an economic boom that resulted in a significant labor shortage, Germany signed a bilateral agreement with Turkey to allow German companies to recruit Turkish workers. The agreement was in place for 12 years, during which around 650,000 workers came from Turkey to Germany. Many also brought their spouses and children with them.

Turks who immigrated to Germany brought cultural elements with them, including the Turkish language.^{[citation needed]}

History

Turkish migration from the Seljuk Empire and the Rum Seljuk Sultanate

During a series of invading

The earliest documented Turk in Germany is believed to be Sadok Seli Soltan [de] (Mehmet Sadık Selim Sultan) (ca.1270-1328) from the Anatolian Seljuk lands.^[8][9] According to Streiders Hessisches Gelehrtenlexikon, Soltan was a Turkish officer who was captured by Count von Lechtomir (Reinhart von Württemberg) during his return to Germany from the Holy Land in 1291. By 1304 Soltan married Rebekka Dohlerin; he was baptised the following year as "Johann Soldan", but "out of special love to him", the Count "gave him a Turkish nobility coat of arms".^[6] Soldan and his wife had at least three sons, including Eberhardus, Christanianus and Melchior.^[6] Another source specifies that Soltan came with Count Reinhart von Württemberg to the residential town of Brackenheim in 1304 and was then baptised in 1305 at S. Johannis Church as "Johannes Soldan".^[6] There is also evidence that Soltan had a total of 12 sons born in 20 years with Anna Delcherin and Rebecca Bergmännin; eight of his sons passed to the clergy and do not appear in genealogy records due to compulsory celibacy associated with the clergy.^[10]

Soltan/Soldan's descendants, who were more widespread in south-west Germany, include notable German artists, scholars, doctors, lawyers and politicians.^[11] For example, through his maternal grandmother, the renowned German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe belonged to the descendants of the Soldan family and thus had Turkish ancestry.^{[12][13][14][15][16][6]} Bernt Engelmann has said that "the German poet prince [i.e. Goethe] with oriental ancestors is by no means a rare exception."^[6] Indeed, other descendants of the first recorded Turk in Germany include the lawyer Hans Soldan [de];^[17] the city architects and wine masters Heinrich Soldan and his son Johann Soldan who both served as Mayor of Frankenberg;^[10][18] the sculptor and artist Philipp Soldan [de];^[19] and the pharmacist Carl Soldan who founded the confectionery company "Dr. C. Soldan [de]".^[20] Carl Soldan's grandson, Pery Soldan, has said that the family continue to use the crescent and star on their coat of arms.^[21][7] According to Latif Çelik, as of 2008, the Soldan family numbered 2,500 and are also found in Austria, Finland, France and Switzerland.^[22]

Turkish migration from the Ottoman Empire

The

Many Ottoman soldiers and camp followers who were left behind after the second siege of Vienna became stragglers or prisoners. It is estimated that at least 500 Turkish prisoners were forcibly settled in Germany.[23] Historical records show that some Turks became traders or took up other professions, particularly in southern Germany. Some Turks fared very well in Germany; for example, one Ottoman Turk is recorded to have been raised to the Hanoverian nobility.^[30] Historical records also show that many Ottoman Turks converted to Christianity and became priests or pastors.^[30]

The aftermath of the second siege of Vienna led to a series of wars between the Ottoman Empire and the

"All religions are just as good as each other, as long as the people who practice them are honest, and even if Turks and heathens came and wanted to populate this country, then we would build mosques and temples for them."^[33]

By 1763, an Ottoman legation existed at the Prussian court in

During this time, there were also marriages between Germans and Turks. For example, Karl Boy-Ed, who was the naval attaché to the German embassy in Washington during World War I, was born into a German-Turkish family.^[27][28]

Turkish migration from the Republic of Turkey

In the 1950s, West Germany experienced an economic boom (Wirtschaftswunder, or 'economic miracle'), exacerbated by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 that prevented migration from East Germany. In response, the West German government signed a labour recruitment agreement with Turkey on 30 October 1961 and officially invited Turkish workers to emigrate to the country, initially on visas limited to two years, although this was quickly lifted following complaints by German employers.^[36] Turkish Romani also came to Germany as guest workers, although they were generally simply seen as Turks by Germans.^[37]

Most Turkish immigrants intended to live there temporarily and then return to Turkey so that they could build a new life with the money they had earned. Indeed, return-migration increased during the recession of 1966–1967 and the 1973 oil crisis. Under Helmut Kohl, the government also attempted to encourage immigrants to return to their countries of origin with financial incentives, although this was largely unsuccessful.^[38] Overall, the proportion of Turkish immigrants who returned to Turkey remained relatively small.^[39] This was partly due to the family reunification rights that were introduced in 1974 which allowed Turkish workers to bring their families to Germany.^[40] Consequently, between 1974 and 1988 the number of Turks in Germany nearly doubled, acquiring a balanced sex ratio and a much younger age profile than the German population.^[41] Once the recruitment of foreigner workers was reintroduced after the recession of 1967, the BfA (Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte) granted most work visas to women. This was in part because labour shortages continued in low paying, low-status service jobs such as electronics, textiles, and garment work; and in part to further the goal of family reunification.^[42]

The

The migration of Turkish Bulgarians to Germany increased further once communism in Bulgaria ended in 1989. In particular, Turkish Bulgarians who did not join the massive migration wave to Turkey during the so-called "Revival Process" faced severe economic disadvantages and discrimination resulting from the state policies of Bulgarisation. Hence, from the early 1990s onwards many Bulgarian Turks sought asylum in Germany.^[49][50]

The number of Turkish-speaking Roma people from Bulgaria in Germany has significantly increased since Bulgaria was admitted into the European Union, which has allowed many Bulgarian Turkish Roma to use the freedom of movement to enter Germany.^[51] The Bulgarian Turkish Roma have generally been attracted to Germany because they rely on the well-established Turkish-German community for gaining employment.^[52]

Thus, the social network of the first waves of political emigration, as well as the preservation of kinship, has opened an opportunity for many Turkish Bulgarian to continue to migrate to Western Europe,^[53] with the majority continuing to settling in Germany. As a result, Turkish Roma from Bulgaria in Germany outnumber the large Turkish Roma Bulgarian diasporas in countries such as the Netherlands,^[52] where they make up about 80% of Bulgarian citizens.^[54]

Greece

From the 1950s onward, the Turkish minority of Greece, particularly the Turks of Western Thrace, began to immigrate to Germany alongside other Greek citizens.^[56] Whilst many Western Thrace Turks had intended to return to Greece after working for a number of years, a new Greek law was introduced which effectively forced the minority to remain in Germany. Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Law gave the government the power to strip "non-ethnic" Greek citizens of their citizenship upon leaving the country without the possibility of an appeal. This law continued to affect Western Thrace Turks studying in Germany in the late 1980s, even those who had intended to return to Greece. It was not repealed until 1998.^[57]

Despite risking the loss of their Greek citizenship, Western Thrace Turks continued to emigrate to Germany in large numbers. Firstly, in the 1960s and 1970s many came to Germany because the Thracian tobacco industry was affected by a severe crisis and many tobacco growers lost their income. Between 1970 and 2010, approximately 40,000 Western Thrace Turks emigrated to Western Europe, most of whom settled in Germany.^[58] In addition, between 2010 and 2018, a further 30,000 Western Thrace Turks left for Western Europe due to the Greek government-debt crisis.^[58] Of these 70,000 immigrants (which excludes the numbers which arrived before 1970),^[58] around 80% live in Germany.^[59]

In 2013

There has been migration from the

In 2021, Furkan Çako, who is a former Macedonian minister and member of the Security Council, urged Turkish Macedonians living in Germany to participate in North Macedonia's 2021 census.[61]

Romania

Between 2002 and 2011 there was a significant decrease in the population of the Turkish Romanian minority group due to the admission of Romania into the European Union and the subsequent relaxation of the travelling and migration regulations. Hence, Turkish Romanians, especially from the Dobruja region, have joined other Romanian citizens (e.g. ethnic Romanians, Tatars, etc.) in migrating mostly to Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and the UK.^[62]

Turkish migration from the Levant

Cyprus

The TRNC (unrecognised) provides assistance to its Turkish Cypriots residents living in Germany via the TRNC Berlin Honorary Representative Office; the TRNC Köln Honorary Representative Office; the TRNC Bavarian Honorary Attaché; and the TRNC Bavarian Honorary Representative Office. These Representative Offices and Honorary Representatives also promote friendly relations between Northern Cyprus and Germany, as well as economic and cultural relations.^[65][66]

Lebanon

Iraq

In 2008 there were 85,000 Iraqis living in Germany, of which approximately 7,000 were from the Turkish Iraqi minority group; hence, the Iraqi Turks formed around 8.5% of the total number of Iraqi citizens living in Germany.^[69] The majority of Iraqi Turks live in Munich.

Syria

Established in Germany, the Suriye Türkmen Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği – Avrupa, or STKYDA, ('Syrian Turkmen Culture and Solidarity Association – Europe') was the first

In addition to ethnic Turkish people that have migrated to Germany from post-Ottoman modern nation-states, there has also been an increasing migration wave from the modern Turkish diaspora. For example, members of the Turkish Dutch community have also arrived in Germany as Dutch citizens. According to a study by Petra Wieke de Jong, focusing on second-generation Turkish-Dutch people specifically born between the years 1983 and 1992 only, 805 people from this age group and generation reported Germany as their country of emigration in 2001 to 2017. A further 1,761 people in this group did not report their emigration destination.^[72]

Demographics

Population

German state data and estimates

The German state does not allow citizens to self-declare their identity; consequently, the statistics published in the official German census does not show data on ethnicity.

Throughout the decades estimates by academics of the Turkish-German population have varied. In 1990, David Scott Bell et al. put it at between 2.5 million and 3 million Turks in Germany.[79] A lower 1993 estimate by Stephen J. Blank et al. said there were 1.8 million Turks.^[80] The German Government's Special Commission on Integration Barbara John [de] estimated^[when?] that there were more than 3 million Turks, including third-generation descendants, and that 79,000 new babies were born each year within the community.^[81] The estimate of three million was also given by other scholars in the mid-1990s.^[82][83] A higher estimate of 4 million Turks (including three generations) was reported by John Pilger in 1993^[84] and the Deutsches Orient-Institut in 1994.^[85] Moreover, Marilya Veteto-Conrad said that in the German capital there was already "over a million Turks in Berlin alone" in 1996.^[86]

In 2003, Ina Kötter et al. said that there was "more than 4 million people of Turkish origin" in Germany;

As of 2020, numerous scholars have estimated that there are approximately 7 million Turks in Germany, including Graham E. Fuller,^[106][107] James G. Lacey,^[108] Daniela Coli,^[109] and George K. Zestos and Rachel N. Cooke.^[110] Non-academic reports published by The Times,^[111] the Foundation for Subsidiarity,^[112] and Marianne^[113] have also suggested this figure.

Settlements

The Turkish community in Germany is concentrated predominantly in urban centers. The vast majority are found in the former West Germany, particularly in industrial regions such as the states of North Rhine-Westphalia (where a third of Turkish Germans live),^[114] and Baden-Württemberg and the working-class neighbourhoods of cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Bochum, Bonn, Cologne, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hanover, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Mainz, Nuremberg, Munich, Stuttgart, Aachen and Wiesbaden.^[115][116] Among the German districts in 2011, Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Heilbronn, Herne and Ludwigshafen had the highest shares of migrants from Turkey according to census data.^[117]

Return migration

In regards to return-migration, many Turkish nationals and Turkish Germans have also migrated from Germany to Turkey, for retirement or professional reasons. Official German records show that there are 2.8 million "returnees"; however, the German Embassy in Ankara estimates the true number to be four million, acknowledging the differences in German official data and the realities of the under-reporting by migrants.^[118]

Integration

Turkish immigrants make up Germany's largest immigrant group and have been ranked last in Berlin Institute's integration ranking.^[119][120]

During a speech in Düsseldorf in 2011, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Turks in Germany to integrate, but not assimilate, a statement that caused a political outcry in Germany.^[121]

The Turks in Turkey (especially more progressive-leaning, and those from large cities like Istanbul) can occasionally have somewhat negative views of the Turks in Germany, specifically (descendants of) the first Turkish Gastarbeiters, for their generally more conservative/Islamist political views, sometimes they are called almancı (literal translation "german-er", Almanya meaning "Germany" in Turkish). They are sometimes regarded as "having insufficiently assimilated by the Germans, yet having excessively assimilated by the Turks in the homeland".^[122]

Citizenship

For decades Turkish citizens in Germany were unable to become

In 1990 Germany's citizenship law was somewhat relaxed with the introduction of the Foreigner's Law; this gave Turkish workers the right to apply for a permanent residency permit after eight years of living in the country.

If today [1997] we give in to demands for dual citizenship, we would soon have four, five, or six million Turks in Germany, instead of three million – Chancellor Helmut Kohl, in 1997.^[76]

However, in 1999 the centre-left government of Gerhard Schröder further liberalised Germany's citizenship laws. Non-citizens became eligible for naturalization after eight years of legal residence in the country, and children born in Germany to foreign parents automatically became citizens if at least one had been a permanent resident for at least eight years. Such children also gained a right to dual citizenship until the age of 23, at which point they had to choose between their German citizenship or the citizenship of their parent's country of birth.^[125] Former Turkish citizens who have given up their citizenship can apply for the 'Blue Card' (Mavi Kart), which gives them some rights in Turkey, such as the right to live and work in Turkey, the right to possess and inherit land or the right to inherit, but not the right to vote.

In 2000, the year following the citizenship reform, a then-record 187,000 people were naturalised in Germany,^[126] 44% (83,000) of whom were of Turkish origin. Over the following two decades, a further 630,000 Turkish people took German citizenship.^[127] By 2011 the Embassy of Germany, Washington, D.C. reported that as of 2005 there were 2 million Turks who already had German citizenship.^[77]

Culture

The Turkish people who immigrated to Germany brought their culture with them, including their language, religion, food, and arts. These cultural traditions have also been passed down to their descendants who maintain these values. Consequently, Turkish Germans have also exposed their culture to the greater German society. Numerous Turkish restaurants, grocery stores, teahouses, and mosques are scattered across Germany. The Turks in Germany have also been exposed to

Turkish Germans mainly speak the German language more fluently than their "domestic"-style Turkish language. Consequently, they often speak the Turkish language with a

Turkish has also been influential in greater German society. For example, advertisements and banners in public spaces can be found written in Turkish. Hence, it is also familiar to other ethnic groups – it can even serve as a vernacular for some non-Turkish children and adolescents in urban neighborhoods with dominant Turkish communities.[131]

It is also common within the Turkish community to

The Turkish people in Germany are predominantly

In 1985 the German journalist Günter Wallraff shocked the German public with his internationally successful book Ganz unten ('In the Pits' or 'Way Down') in which he reported the discrimination faced by Turkish people in German society. He disguised himself as a Turkish worker called "Ali Levent" for over two years and took on minimal-wage jobs and confronted German institutions. He found that many employers did not register or insure their Turkish workers. Major employers like Thyssen did not give their Turkish workers adequate breaks and did not pay them their full wage.^[137]

It has been, and still is, also reported that Turkish-Germans were being discriminated against at school from early age and in workplaces. It has also been found that teachers discriminate against non-German sounding names and tend to give worse grades based on names alone. The studies showed that even though a student might have had the exact number of right and wrong answers, or the exact paper, the teachers favour German names. This creates a vicious cycle where teachers favour students of German descent over non-Germans, including Turkish students, which results in worse education. This later results in Turkish people not being able to take what are deemed to be "higher-skill jobs", which nonetheless deepens the cracks in the cycle. ^{[citation needed]}

There are also the reports of discrimination against Turkish-Germans in other areas such as sports, one example being the discrimination against the football player Mesut Özil.^{[citation needed]}

Attacks against the Turkish community in Germany

Two months later, on 28 May 1993, four young neo-Nazi German men aged 16–23 set fire to the house of a Turkish family in Solingen. Three girls and two women died and 14 other members of the extended family were severely injured in the attack. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl did not attend the memorial services.

Neo-Nazi attacks continued throughout the 1990s. On 18 February 1994, the Bayram family were attacked on their doorstep by a neo-Nazi neighbour in Darmstadt. The attack was not well publicised until one of the victims, Aslı Bayram, was crowned Miss Germany in 2005. The armed neo-Nazi neighbour shot Aslı on her left arm and then the attacker shot Aslı's father, Ali Bayram, who died from the gunshot.^[144]

Between 2000 and 2006 several Turkish shopkeepers were attacked in numerous cities in Germany. The attacks were called the "

Not all attacks on Turks have been perpetrated by neo-Nazi right-wing Germans: for example, the perpetrator of a mass shooting in Munich on 22 July 2016 who deliberately targeted people of Turkish and Arab origin. On that day, he killed nine victims, of which four victims were of Turkish origin: Can Leyla, aged 14, Selçuk Kılıç, aged 17, and Sevda Dağ, aged 45;^[149] as well as Hüseyin Dayıcık, aged 19, who was a Greek national of Turkish origin.^[150]

On 19 February 2020, a German neo-Nazi who expressed hate for non-German people,

On 2 April 2020, in Hamburg, a German family of Turkish descent claimed to have received a threatening letter with xenophobic content allegedly containing the coronavirus.^[152]

Crime

External videos
Almanya'daki Türk çetesi 36 Boys (Turkish Gangs in Germany) Al-Jazeera

Turkish gangs

In 2014, the annual report into organized crime, presented in Berlin by interior minister Thomas de Maizière, showed that there were 57 Turkish gangs in Germany. In 2016, the Die Welt and Bild reported that new Turkish motorbike gang, the Osmanen Germania is growing rapidly. The Hannoversche Allgemeine newspaper claimed that the Osmanen Germania is advancing more and more into red-light districts, which increases the likelihood of a bloody territorial battle with established gangs like the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.^[153]

Turkish ultra-nationalist movements

As a result of the immigration wave in the 1960s and 1970s, far right and ultranationalist organisations established themselves in Germany such as the Grey Wolves, Türkische Föderation der Idealistenvereine in Deutschland, Europäisch-Türkische Union (ATB) and Türkisch Islamische Union Europa (ATIB). In 2017, ATB and ATIB together had about 303 locations with 18,500 members.^[154]

Popular culture

Films

The first phase in

Fatih Akin's films, which often examine the place of the Turkish diaspora in Germany, have won numerous awards and have launched the careers of many of its cast including Short Sharp Shock (1998) starring Mehmet Kurtuluş and İdil Üner; Head-On (2004) starring Birol Ünel and Sibel Kekilli; Kebab Connection (2004) starring Denis Moschitto; The Edge of Heaven (2007) starring Baki Davrak; and Soul Kitchen (2009) starring Birol Ünel.

Other notable films which have a transnational context include Feridun Zaimoğlu's book-turned-film Kanak Attack [de] (2000); Kerim Pamuk's [de] Süperseks [de] (2004); and Özgür Yıldırım's Chiko (2008).^[158] Several Turkish-German comedy films have also intentionally used comical stereotypes to encourage its viewers to question their preconceived ideas of "the Other", such as Züli Aladağ's film 300 Worte Deutsch ("300 words of German", 2013), starring Almila Bagriacik, Arzu Bazman [de], Aykut Kayacık, and Vedat Erincin.^[159] Similarly, other recent Turkish-German comedies like Meine verrückte türkische Hochzeit (Kiss me Kismet [de], 2006), starring Hilmi Sözer, Ercan Özçelik, Aykut Kayacık, and Özay Fecht, and the film Evet, I Do! [de] (2009), starring numerous Turkish-German actors such as Demir Gökgöl, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Erden Alkan, Gandi Mukli, Hülya Duyar, Jale Arıkan, Lilay Huser, Meral Perin, Mürtüz Yolcu, Sema Meray, and Sinan Akkuş, have emphasised how the Turkish and German cultures come together in contemporary German society. By focusing on similarities and differences of the two cultures using comedy, these films have shifted from the earlier Turkish-German drama films of the 1980s which focused on culture clashes; in its place, these films have celebrated integration and interethnic romance.^[160]

By 2011

Nonetheless, not all films directed, produced or written by Turkish Germans are necessarily about the "Turkish-experience" in Germany. Several Turkish Germans have been involved in other genres, such as Bülent Akinci who directed the German drama Running on Empty (2006),^[162] Mennan Yapo who has directed the American supernatural thriller Premonition (2007),^[163] and Thomas Arslan who directed the German Western film Gold (2013).^[164]

Several Turkish-origin actors from Germany have also starred in Turkish films, such as

In the first decade of the twenty-first century several German television series in which the experience of Turkish-Germans as a major theme gained popularity in Germany and in some cases gained popularity abroad too. For example,

By 2006 the award-winning German television comedy-drama series Türkisch für Anfänger ('Turkish for Beginners', 2006–2009) became one of the most popular shows in Germany. The critically acclaimed series was also shown in more than 70 other countries.^[171] Created by Bora Dağtekin, the plot is based on interethnic-relations between German and Turkish people. Adnan Maral plays the role of a widower of two children who marries an ethnic German mother of two children – forming the Öztürk-Schneider family. The comedy consisted of fifty-two episodes and three seasons.^[172] By 2012 Turkish for Beginners [de] was made into a feature film; it was the most successful German film of the year with an audience of 2.5 million.^[173]

Other notable Turkish-origin actors on German television include Erdoğan Atalay,^[174] Erkan Gündüz [de], İsmail Deniz [de], Olgu Caglar [de],^[175] Özgür Özata,^[176] Taner Sahintürk [de], and Timur Ülker [de].

Whilst Turkish-origin journalists are still underrepresented, several have made successful careers as reporters and TV presenters including Erkan Arikan [de]^[177] and Nazan Eckes.^[177]

Many Turkish Germans have also starred in numerous critically acclaimed Turkish drama series. For example, numerous actors and actresses in Muhteşem Yüzyıl were born in Germany, including Meryem Uzerli,^[178] Nur Fettahoğlu,^[179] Selma Ergeç,^[180] and Ozan Güven.^[181] Other popular Turkish-German performers in Turkey include Fahriye Evcen who has starred in Yaprak Dökümü and Kurt Seyit ve Şura.^[182]

Comedy

One of the first comedians of Turkish origin to begin a career as a mainstream comedian is Django Asül who began his career in satire in the 1990s.^[183] Another very successful comedian is Bülent Ceylan, who performed his first solo show "Doner for one" in 2002. By 2011 the broadcasting agency RTL aired Ceylan's own comedy show The Bulent Ceylan Show.^[183] Other notable comedians include Özcan Cosar [de], Fatih Çevikkollu [de],^[183] Murat Topal [de],^[183] Serdar Somuncu [de],^[183] Kaya Yanar,^[183] and female comedian Idil Baydar [de].^[183]

Literature

See also: List of German-Turkish authors

Since the 1960s Turkish people in Germany have produced a range of literature. Their work became widely available from the late 1970s onwards, when Turkish-origin writers began to gain sponsorships by German institutions and major publishing houses.^[184] Some of the most notable writers of Turkish origin in Germany include Akif Pirinçci,^[184] Alev Tekinay,^[184] Emine Sevgi Özdamar,^[184] Feridun Zaimoğlu,^[184] Necla Kelek,^[184] Renan Demirkan,^[184] and Zafer Şenocak.^[184] These writers approach a broad range of historical, social and political issues, such as identity, gender, racism, and language. In particular, German audiences have often been captivated by Oriental depictions of the Turkish community.

Music

See also: List_of_Turkish_Germans § Music

In the mid-twentieth century the Turkish immigrant community in Germany mostly followed the music industry in Turkey, particularly pop music and

Turkish music industry became very profitable in Germany. By the 1970s, the "arabesque" genre erupted in Turkey and became particularly popular among Turks in Germany. These songs were often played and sang by the Turkish community in Germany in coffee houses and taverns that replicated those in Turkey. These spaces also provided the first stage for semi-professional and professional musicians. Consequently, by the end of the 1960s, some Turks in Germany began to produce their own music, such as Metin Türköz [de] who took up themes of the Turkish immigration journey and their working conditions.^[185]

Bahar Kızıl is a founding member of the German pop group Monrose.^[186]

By the 1990s the Turkish Germans became more influential in the music industry in both Germany and Turkey. In general, many Turkish Germans were brought up listening to Turkish pop music, which greatly influenced the music they began to produce. They were also influenced by

rap music

.

Since the 1990s, the Turkish-German music scene has developed creative and successful new styles, such as "Oriental pop and rap" and "R'n'Besk" – a fusion of

R&B music. Examples of Oriental-pop and rap emerged in the early 2000s with Bassturk's first single "Yana Yana" ("Side by Side").^[187] The "R'n'Besk"-style gained popularity in Germany with Muhabbet's 2005 single "Sie liegt in meinen Armen" ("She lies in my Arms").^[188] By 2007 Muhabbet released the song "Deutschland" ("Germany"); the lyrics appeal to Germans to finally accept the Turkish immigrants living in the country.^[189]

In 2015 several Turkish-German musicians released the song "Sen de bizdensin" ("You are one of us"). The vocalists included

Ay Yildiz telephone network and was extensively broadcast on TV and radio.^[191] Thereafter, a competition and group was formed called Die Stimme einer neuen Ära/Yeni neslin sesi ("The voice of the new generation") to find new Turkish-German talent and "Sen de bizdensin" was re-released with different lyrics.^[192][193]

Other Turkish-origin musicians in the German music industry include

Bahar Kızıl (from the former girl-group Monrose),^[186] and winner of Germany's "Star Search" Martin Kesici.^[194]

Several Turkish-origin singers born in Germany have also launched their careers in Turkey, such as

Turkish Cypriot pianist Rüya Taner has also launched her career in Turkey.^[202]

There are also some musicians who perform and produce songs in the English language, such as Alev Lenz,^[203] DJ Quicksilver,^[204] DJ Sakin,^[205] and Mousse T.^[206]

Rappers

Especially in the 1990s, Turkish-German rap groups have sold hundreds of thousands of albums and singles in Turkey, telling their stories of integration and assimilation struggles they experienced due to discrimination they faced during their upbringing in Germany.^[207][208]

Sports

See also: List_of_Turkish_Germans § Sports

Football

Turkey

Men's football

Many football players of Turkish origin in Germany have been successful in first-division German and Turkish football clubs, as well as other European clubs. However, in regards to playing for national teams, many players of Turkish origin who were born in Germany have chosen to play for the

Turkish national football team

. Nonetheless, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of players choosing to represent Germany.

The first person of Turkish descent to play for the Germany national football team was Mehmet Scholl in 1993,^[209] followed by Mustafa Doğan in 1999 and Malik Fathi in 2006.^[209] Since the twenty-first century there has been an increase in German-born individuals of Turkish origin opting to play for Germany, including Serdar Tasci^[210] and Suat Serdar, Kerem Demirbay,^[211] Emre Can,^[212] İlkay Gündoğan,^[212] Mesut Özil,.^[212] Of those, Mesut Özil played the most matches for Germany (92 apps). His photo with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (together with Ilkay Gündogan and Cenk Tosun) just before the World Cup 2018 and his subsequent retirement after World Cup led to a controversy as well as political and social discussion. In his retirement statement, Özil also reported about racism experiences after his photo with Erdoğan.

Those who have chosen to retain their Turkish citizenship and who have competed for Turkey include

Nazim Sangaré, Güven Yalçın, Berkay Özcan and Hasan Ali Kaldırım

.

Many Turkish Germans have also played for other national football teams; for example, Turkish German football players in the Azerbaijan national football team include Ufuk Budak, Tuğrul Erat, Ali Gökdemir, Taşkın İlter, Cihan Özkara, Uğur Pamuk, Fatih Şanlı, and Timur Temeltaş [de].^[214]

Several Turkish-German professional football players have also continued their careers as football managers such as

Kenan Kocak, Hüseyin Eroğlu, Tayfun Korkut and Eddy Sözer. In addition, there are also several Turkish-German referees, including Deniz Aytekin

.

Women's football

In regards to women's football, several players have chosen to play for the Turkish women's national football team, including Aylin Yaren,^[215] Aycan Yanaç, Melike Pekel, Dilan Ağgül, Selin Dişli, Arzu Karabulut, Ecem Cumert, Fatma Kara, Fatma Işık, Ebru Uzungüney and Feride Bakır.

There are also players who plays for the German women's football national football team, including Sara Doorsoun and Hasret Kayıkçı.

Turkish-German football clubs

The Turkish community in Germany has also been active in establishing their own football clubs such as

Berliner Landespokal

in 1988, 1990, and 1991. Türkgücü München, established in 1975, play in the 3. Liga.

Politics

See also: List_of_Turkish_Germans § Politics

German politics

The Turks in Germany began to be active in politics by establishing associations and federations in the 1960s and 1970s – though these were mainly based on Turkish politics rather than German politics. The first significant step towards active German politics occurred in 1987 when Sevim Çelebi became the first person of Turkish origin to be elected as an MP in the West Berlin Parliament.^[217]

With the reunification of

Green Party. Several associations were founded by almost all German parties to organise meetings for Turkish voters. This played an important gateway for those who aspired to become politicians.^[217]

Federal Parliament

In

Green Party became MPs in the Federal Parliament. They were both re-elected in the 1998 elections and were joined by Ekin Deligöz from the Green party. Deligöz and Özdemir were both re-elected as MPs for the Greens and Lale Akgün was elected as an MP for the SPD in the 2002 elections. Thereafter, Deligöz and Akgün were successful in being re-elected in the 2005 elections; the two female politicians were joined by Hakkı Keskin who was elected as an MP for the Left Party.^[219]

By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the number of German MPs of Turkish origin remained similar to the previous elections. In the

Green Party. In 2010 Aygül Özkan was appointed as the Women, Family, Health and Integration Minister, making her the first ever minister of Turkish origin or the Muslim faith. In the same year, Aydan Özoğuz was elected as deputy chairperson of the SPD party. By 2011, Bilkay Öney [de] from the SPD was appointed as Integration Minister in the Baden-Württemberg State.^[220]

Since the 2013 German elections, Turkish-origin MPs have been elected into Federal Parliament from four different parties. Cemile Giousouf, whose parents immigrated from Greece, became the first person of Western Thracian Turkish-origin to become an MP. Giousouf was the first Turkish-origin MP and first Muslim to be elected from the CDU party.^[221] Five MPs of Turkish-origin were elected from the SPD party including Aydan Özoğuz, Cansel Kiziltepe, Gülistan Yüksel, Metin Hakverdi and Mahmut Özdemir. Özdemir, at the time of his election, became the youngest MP in the German Parliament.^[222][223] For the Green Party, Cem Özdemir, Ekin Deligöz and Özcan Mutlu were elected as MPs, and Azize Tank for the Left Party.^[224]

European Parliament

In 1989 Leyla Onur [de] from the SPD party was the first person of Turkish-origin to be a member of the European Parliament for Germany.^[225] By 2004 Cem Özdemir and Vural Öger also became members of the European Parliament. Since then, Ismail Ertug was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014.^[226]

Turkish-German political parties

Political parties in Germany	Year established	Founders	Current Leader	Position	Ideologies
Alternative for Migrants (German: Alternative für Migranten, AfM; Turkish: Göçmenler için Alternatif)	2019				Turkish and Muslim minority interests
Alliance for Innovation and Justice (German: Bündnis für Innovation und Gerechtigkeit, BIG; Turkish: Yenilik ve Adalet Birliği Partisi)	2010	Haluk Yıldız	Haluk Yıldız		Turkish and Muslim minority interests
Alliance of German Democrats (German: Allianz Deutscher Demokraten, ADD; Turkish: Alman Demokratlar İttifakı)	26 June 2016[227]	Remzi Aru	Ramazan Akbaş		Turkish and Muslim minority interests, Conservatism
Bremen Integration Party of Germany (German: Bremische Integrations-Partei Deutschlands, BIP; Turkish: Almanya Bremen Entegrasyon Partisi)	2010		Levet Albayrak		Turkish and Muslim minority interests

Turkish politics

Main article: Politics of Turkey

Some Turks born or raised in Germany have entered Turkish politics. For example, Siegen-born, Justice and Development Party (AKP) affiliated Akif Çağatay Kılıç has been the Minister of Youth and Sports of Turkey since 2013.^[228]

Germany is effectively Turkey's 4th largest electoral district. Around a third of this constituency vote in Turkish elections (570,000 in the 2015 parliamentary elections), and the share of

2016 Turkish purges and against the detention the HDP party co-chairpersons Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ in Turkey.^[230]

Notable people

Main article: List of Turkish Germans

COVID-19 vaccine and became the first people of Turkish origin to be included in the hundred wealthiest people list in Germany.^[231][232]

See also

• List of Turkish Germans
• List of German locations named after people and places of Turkish origin
• Turks in Berlin
• Germany–Turkey relations
• Turkish diaspora
  • Turks in Europe
    • Turks in Austria
    • Turks in France
    • Turks in the Netherlands
    • Turks in Liechtenstein
    • Turks in Poland
    • Turks in Russia
    • Turks in Switzerland
    • Turks in the United Kingdom
  • Turkish Americans

References

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turks in Germany.

• Relations between Turkey and Germany at the German Federal Foreign Office
• "Germany's guest workers mark 40 years", by Rob Broomby, BBC News
• Berlin Türk Kulübü
• Turkish Flair in Berlin
• Citizenship Test
• Migrants in Germany