Turkish Germans are caught between two lands, many voting in one country but living in another. Of the more than 3 million Turks in Germany, only about a quarter of a million have German citizenship.
Indeed, Turks in Germany are so important “home” to Turkey that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has campaigned in Germany, setting up offices to maintain a physical footprint during the current presidential election, which ends in a runoff this weekend.
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A story that is focused
Germany’s large Turkish population often feels torn between two worlds: their physical home and their psychological home. How does it help Germany by banning dual citizenship?
That may change, as Germany’s current government has pledged to end the country’s ban on dual citizenship, and with it the difficult choice of loyalty forced on generations of Turks in Germany.
Will the citizen’s dividend in Europe’s second and third largest countries change the experience of the duality of cultures and the concept of “home”?
“If there is a ban on dual citizenship [not lifted]I can tell you that people of Turkish origin living in Germany will become more conservative, more religious, even more connected to their homeland,” says sociologist Ayhan Kaya. “If you really want to win the hearts and minds of these people, you have to give them a carrot: political resources, like citizenship, to make them feel integrated and welcome.”
Cenk Auth is a hairstylist from Berlin with Turkish style and German passport.
Born in Germany to Turkish German parents, Mr. Out is part of a Turkish diaspora spread across Europe that feels the pull of both places keenly. When he’s not running Berlin’s high-end Haarwerk salon, he listens to Turkish music and watches Turkish TV to stay connected to Turkey.
Yet Mr. Out also feels uniquely German. “From a national point of view, I see myself as a Turk living in Germany, but I don’t see Turkey as my homeland, because I didn’t grow up there. I don’t think I could live in Turkey. I’m too used to life and integrated in Germany.”
Why did we write this?
A story that is focused
Germany’s large Turkish population often feels torn between two worlds: their physical home and their psychological home. How does it help Germany by banning dual citizenship?
Politically, Turks are so important “at home” in Germany that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has campaigned in Germany setting up offices to maintain a physical footprint. During a campaign in Germany a decade ago, Mr. Erdogan advised this group to “integrate into German society, but not assimilate.” Indeed, surveys show that Turks abroad are significantly connected to Turkey politically and culturally.
Turkish Germans in particular are caught between two lands, many voting in one country but living in another. According to 2016 data from the German Federal Statistical Office, only about a quarter of a million of the more than 3 million Turks in Germany have German citizenship. That may change, as the current government has pledged to end Germany’s ban on dual citizenship, and with it the difficult choice of loyalty forced on generations of Turks in Germany.
But most Turks also say that German society discriminates against them.
Will the citizen’s dividend in Europe’s second and third largest countries change the experience of the duality of cultures and the concept of “home”?
“It’s somewhat of a push/pull phenomenon. On the one hand, European society has made them ‘other,’ and I think Germany is an outstanding example,” says Alan Makowski, a former Middle East adviser and senior fellow at the Center for National Security and International Policy. For American Progress. “But on the other hand, they maintain a strong Turkish identity. They left physically, but because of technology and other factors, they never really had to leave psychologically or mentally.”
Markus Schreiber / A.P
A complex fusion of cultures
Mr. Out’s mother, Ayshe Out, is a celebrity hairstylist. She became a star in her own right, with her sleek looks, shocks of dyed blonde hair and media savvy.
However, Mrs. Out’s childhood was not such a bright example of Turkish success. Although he was born in Germany, his parents sent him and his twin sister to live with their grandmother in Turkey. Growing up, she faced internal conflict represented by her authoritarian Turkish grandmother, her father who tried to marry her off according to Turkish tradition, and faraway Germany, which presented freedom and opportunity to her teenage eyes.
She was able to return to Germany, eventually giving up on a marriage of convenience and striking out alone as an adult in Germany, in a story that spread in the media as an example of dual identity. Today, Ms. Out and her twin sister own and run successful high-end lifestyle salons in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.
Her son now embraces both cultures effortlessly, which was not so easy for his mother decades ago. With his Muslim mother and Catholic German stepfather, Mr. Oath was raised to be open to other cultures and religions. This is not necessarily what Mr. Erdogan and his ruling AKP party is promoting in Turkey.
The AKP “campaigns in Germany with massive, aggressive and different vote advertising than in Turkey,” Mr. Out said, referring to the fact that the Turkish population in Germany is even more conservative than the right-wing AKP in Turkey. . “As a migrant, it’s really hard to get citizenship here, and it looks like it’s going to be even harder in the future. But everyone should vote in the country they live in and participate there, not elsewhere.”
In the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections this month, Turks in Germany showed a record turnout of more than 50% of eligible voters.
However, while Mr Oath acknowledges the nuance that dual citizenship can have for male Turks who are then subject to military service, other German Turks may be happy to have access to one of the world’s most powerful passports. Most Turks in Germany are long-term or permanent residents, and the diaspora is less likely to hold citizenship than their counterparts in France, the Netherlands and Austria.
And the data shows that citizenship speeds up integration, while a ban on citizenship can be “alien, especially as much of the Western world accepts dual citizenship,” said Mr. Makowski, a former adviser.
Finding a balance
This feeling of alienation is manifested in surveys of Turkish communities in Germany. more than 65% reported being discriminated against. A 2019 Federal Employment Agency report found that nearly half of the unemployed in Germany are from ethnic minority communities, despite making up only a quarter of the population. Turkish diasporas across Europe show little interest in their “host” country’s politics, with more than three-quarters supporting Turkish football and other sports teams over their Western European counterparts.
Photo by Cenk Auth
The Turkish population in Germany is more conservative than in other European communities, says Ayhan Kaya, a Turkish sociologist and professor of intercultural politics at Bilgi University in Istanbul.
“They are happy to vote for Erdogan. [because he] gave them leverage to feel better in Germany or Europe with their Islamic background, conservative background, traditional values,” says Dr. Kaya. “Because, according to them, Erdogan is a world leader who can silence great European leaders. It psychologically reinforces the sense of ‘revenge’ of these working-class people.”
Such influence can make the cultural and social integration of Turkish communities difficult. However, there are clear economic reasons for Turks to stay in Germany and other European countries, says Dr. Kaya. Turkey’s economy offers fewer opportunities, and living in Germany benefits their sons and daughters, who can access education and healthcare. “They try to make the most of both sides of the river. It is a rational choice for them, for these transnational communities.”
Germany’s coalition government has vowed to reinstate a ban on dual citizenship, potentially paving the way for millions of Turks to have an institutional link with the country where they live. It would be an antidote to what Dr. Kaya points to as a small group of young Muslims in Germany coming to terms more with their religious identity as a response to the growing Islamophobia promoted by Germany’s far-right political parties.
“They are trying to defend themselves as a reactionary measure,” he says. “If there is a ban on dual citizenship [not lifted]I can tell you that people of Turkish origin living in Germany will become more conservative, even more religious, even more attached to their homeland. [of Turkey] because they will be pushed. They will feel that they are being pushed by the German state. They will lose their faith in the German state.
“So if you really want to win the hearts and minds of these people, you have to give them a carrot — political resources like citizenship — to make them feel integrated and welcome,” Dr. Kaya adds.
Although Parliament has recently been distracted by energy issues and the war in Ukraine, it is an issue to watch closely. While European societies famously face the problem of ethnic communities feeling marginalized, Mr. Makowski notes, that divide is something that is happening all over the world.
“European societies are not as grounded as [America’s] on this notion of a protean, ever-evolving national culture. And of course, as we know, there are many Americans who don’t like it either,” he says. “We are still dealing with many issues of majority and minority cleavages.”