Overview

The immigration of the Turkish citizens to compensate for the labor force deficit of the rapid growing West European countries has started in the early years of the 1960s. Originally, the common goal of the Turkish "guest workers", mostly of rural origin, going abroad in search of jobs was to raise capital to start small enterprises or investments in Turkey which would allow them to return home in a couple of years as businessmen or employers themselves. With this plan in their minds, most of the guest workers who had sought for jobs in Europe, have left their families behind in Turkey, on their initial departures.

The rising demand for foreign labour force urged both the European employers and the foreign workers to seek alternative means to the usual employment procedures, creating irregularities in this area. So, in order to facilitate and to regulate the movement of the labor force, meeting the needs of both the employers and the workers, Turkey signed Labor Force Agreements with the destination states beginning with Germany in 1961, followed by Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands in 1964 and France in 1965.

The immigration of the Turkish laborers into Western Europe has continued until 1974. 1974 onwards Turkish labor force has changed its focus towards North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf countries. Following the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the labor force was directed towards the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States. This transformation brought about opening up of the Turkish economy to the world and Turkish contractors undertaking infrastructure projects in the region.

Today, the major part of the Turks living abroad, a considerable number of whom have obtained the citizenships of the destination countries, are permanent residents. Currently, the continuation of the growth of the expatriate Turkish population is mainly due to family reunification and the relatively high birth-rate among the immigrants.

From the 1970s onwards the Turkish immigrants have started to conceive their status in the West European countries as turning from a temporary state into a permanent presence. This transformation was felt solidly in the wake of the 1974 oil crisis, in particular, which gave rise to stagnation that forced the destination governments to halt the labor force immigration and to seek means of encouraging the already admitted immigrants either to return home or to reunite with their families on the territory of the destination states with a vision to integrate with the local communities.

The Turkish immigrants, have contributed significantly to the economic development of the host countries. Most of them also contribute to their destination countries’ political, social, cultural and economic life not only as blue colour labor force but also as professionals in many domains such as academicians, scientists, doctors, journalists, engineers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, artisans, politicians, athletes etc. Numerous Turkish migrant workers have left their labourer identity in the past and have established their private business. The number of companies established by Turkish businessmen in Western Europe has risen to approximately 140.000, 70.000 of them in Germany, alone. These enterprises are providing jobs for 640.000 employees (330.000 only in Germany). Their total annual turnover exceeds 50 billion Euros, 32,7 billion Euros in Germany alone. According to the latest statistics, the annual expenditure of the Turks living in Western Europe amounts to 22.7 billion Euros.

Due to the quite late acknowledgment of the permanent status of the Turkish immigrants by the destination governments, the integration measures have been put into force only recently. As a result of this delay, especially the second and the third generation Turkish immigrants have encountered problems in the field of education.

Turkey welcomes active participation of its citizens in the social, economical, cultural and political life of the host country while maintaining their ties with the motherland, culture and language.

Approximately 5 million Turkish citizens are living abroad, of which around 4 million in the EU member countries, 300.000 in Northern America, 150.000 in Australia and 200.000 in the Middle East.

The main problems encountered by the expatriate Turkish community

The main problems encountered by the expatriate Turkish community are in the fields of education, employment, political rights and with regard to discrimination and prejudices.

Considering education, it is of vital importance to provide equal opportunities for the immigrants’ children while they are endowed with the means to learn their mother-tongues as well as cultural and historical heritage. Turkey desires that its citizens become fluent both in Turkish and in the language of the host countries to be well equipped in a globalizing world. In fact, Turkish mother-tongue education will also help Turkish citizens in gaining command of the language of the destination country. To this end, Turkey has been appointing, in cooperation with the destination governments, teachers for Turkish language and culture as well as professionals for religion for the expatriate Turkish community at the destination countries.

As of 2007 (approximate figures):

The number of teachers for Turkish language and culture appointed abroad : 1.450

The number of teachers for Turkish language and culture appointed to Germany : 461

The number of Turkish university students studying abroad : 60.000

The number of Turkish university students studying in Germany : 25.000

The number of Turkish primary and secondary school pupils living abroad : 770.000

The number of Turkish religious officers appointed abroad : 1.320

The number of Turkish religious officers appointed to Germany : 750

The number of Turkish associations based abroad: 3.885

The number of Turkish associations in Germany : 2.500

The number of Turkish religious associations in Germany : 1.500

The low employment rate among certain segments of the expatriate communities has become a serious issue for Turkish citizens. Unemployment seriously hinders foreigners from contributing to the economic life of destination countries and acquiring dignified positions in the society. In addition, these difficulties, creating an inhospitable family environment harden social integration.

Political integration is the primary wish of the Turkish immigrants. Turkey, has been encouraging the expatriate Turks to obtain the citizenships of the destination countries and to participate effectively in the democratic procedure.

Combating discrimination and prejudices towards the Turkish immigrants requires, in the first place the elimination of the discriminatory policies and implementations that prevent the equal treatment and the active participation of the expatriate community.

Integration is not a process based solely on political and economical requirements but it also has psychological prerequisites. In this respect, it can be said that the perceptions of the immigrants are definitive with regard to the success of the integration measures; and, that the feeling of exclusion experienced by the immigrants can discourage them from taking steps for integration, themselves. Therefore, it should be avoided from certain discriminative practices intensifying these feelings.
Integration should be regarded as a bilateral process in which, besides the responsibilities of the immigrants, the host countries have to make necessary arrangements to secure better integration of the immigrants without leaving their own culture. The cultural diversity introduced by the immigrants is an important factor increasing cultural richness of the societies in host countries.

In the elimination of the problems encountered by the expatriate community, the destination governments should co-operate both with the origin governments and with the immigrants’ representatives.

Turkey's policy concerning the expatriate Turkish community

Today, the Turkish government spares no effort to ensure that the Turkish citizens enjoy the most favorable living and working conditions in the destination countries. To this end, necessary measures have been taken including the conclusion of bilateral labour force and social security agreements. The Turkish Government has been an active participant in the international fora where the immigrants’ rights are being handled.

Turkey encourages the expatriate Turks to establish NGOs in order to voice their views vis-a-vis the local public opinion and for establishing direct contacts with the destination governments. The alliance of the NGO’s on common goals and interests as “umbrella organizations” will facilitate to express their demands more effectively. This will enable them to become influential actors in the contemporary pluralist societies that they are dwelling in.

The basis of Turkey’s cooperation with the destination governments is the perception of integration constituted on, firstly, giving the immigrants a strong background of their native culture and, secondly, providing the mutual recognition by the immigrants and the local societies of each other’s culture, traditions and characteristics. Within the framework of this understanding, Turkey has been encouraging the expatriate Turks and the destination countries to establish new bonds with each other which will lead to the formation of prosperous societies enjoying cultural diversity.