Transnational Turkish–German community in limbo. Consequences of political tensions between migrant receiving and sending countries
| Published date | 01 April 2023 |
| Author | Osman Can Ünver |
| Date | 01 April 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13005 |
International Migration. 2023;61:179–197.
|
179
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 25 Jul y 2021
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Revised: 22 Decem ber 2021
|
Accepted: 20 Febru ary 2022
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13005
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Transnational Turkish– German community in
limbo. Consequences of political tensions between
migrant receiving and sending countries
Osman Can Ünver
© 2022 The Auth ors. Internation al Migration © 2022 IO M
Departm ent of International R elations,
Faculty of Econo mics, Administ rative and
Social Scien ces, Istinye Univer sity, Sarıyer-
Istanbul , Turkey
Correspondence
Osman Can Ünve r, Department of
Internation al Relations, Facult y of
Economics, A dministrative an d Social
Sciences, Is tinye Universit y, Vadi Campus,
Office No. V 706, 109c, Azerbayc an Cad.,
Ayazağa, 34 396 Sarıyer- Istanbul, Turkey.
Emails: osman.unver@istinye.edu.tr;
canunver54@gmail.com
Abstract
A profound pol itical tension betwe en Turkey and Ger many
has gained an overall dimension on the political agenda of
the intra- European migration disc ussion since 2016. As
close tra de partners, Turkey and Germany became gradu-
ally politi cal adversaries on different issu es. 2016 and the
following years marked a turnover in the alread y worsened
mutual relatio ns. A series of po litical issues such as recog-
nising the Armenian genocide in 1915, open allegations and
critical views against the Turkish President and prohibition
of election c ampaigns for Turkish government polit icians
in Germany had driven political relations b etween the two
countries to nadir. This obscure situation led the Turks of
Germany (Th e phrases “Turks of Germany” o r “Turkish
migrants” are persons with migration back ground from
Turkey who st ill bear Turkish cit izenship or former ly were
Turkish citizens. This group's ethnic or confessional identity
is not recognised; their legal status and country of origin
are preponde rant.), who have close tie s to their ancestors’
homeland and consider Germany as the centre of their
lives, nolens volens into a limbo situation. Within the “guest-
worker program” framework in the second par t of the 20th
century, highly in dustrialised countries of Western Europ e
recruited migrant workers from different countries. This
workforce shou ld perform mostly blue- collar labour in the
receiving countries. After six decades of Turkish presence in
180
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ÜNVER
INTRODUCTION
The earl y relationships between Turks and Germans could be traced back to the 11th century, to the era of the
Crusades. S ome crusaders were Ger mans, and both cultures c ame for the first time in to uch almost ten centuries
Germany, the grandsons and granddau ghters of the former
guest workers a re well- represented in alm ost every sector
of th e society. However, their loyalty and integrability to
the receiving count ry are challenged by Germa n politics,
especially by the governments of conser vative chancel-
lor A ngela Merkel (2005– 2021). If Turks of Germany feel
closely conn ected to Turkey and Turkish cultu re (Workers
from Turkey brought with them to th e country of immigra-
tion their own “cultural assets”. Those are, lan guage, re-
ligious and custo mary belief s, social habits, dress, music,
literature, social codes and manners, shared history, food,
etc. However, migrants in the receiving countr y undergo a
process of hybridity under th e influenc e of the new cul tural
environment. (Please se e: Bhabha [The location of culture,
New York, NY: Routledge, 1994]) Culture within the frame-
work of post- colonialism has also been discussed in Edward
W. Said's book “C ulture and Imperialism” (S aid [Kültür ve
Emperyalizm. Kapsa mlı Bir Düşünsel ve Siyasal Sorgulama
Çalışması. Hil Yayın: İstanbul, 1998]). If Turks of Germany
feel closely connected to Turkey and Turkish cult ure, they
are n ot recognised as integrable members of the society.
Identity- based and culture- oriented policies in exorably
influence the willingness of migrants to feel like equal
members in the host society, and it applies even to the new
generations with migration backgrounds. The question of
migrant inte gration is the most emotionally debated issue
in Germany and seems to b e the greatest challenge in the
political agenda. Beyon d the bi lateral Turkish– Germa n is-
sues, the growing xenophobic sentiments, islamophobia
and Europe- wi de political populism may cause a per sistent
bilateral tension in the medium term between the countries
and among the transnational and nati ve communities. Anti-
Turk ish rhetoric in the media alienates the Turkish commu-
nity and has a value to jeopardise integr ation efforts more
and more.
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