Jill Laumbacher
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Foreigners At Home: Turkey Beckons To Germany's Turks
In 1961, West Germany was desperate to increase its labor force, so it signed an employment agreement with Turkey that resulted in a large wave of immigration. After years of discrimination, many descendants of Turkish immigrants are making their way back to Turkey. Many Turks who decided to immigrate in the 60's thought they would return home in a short period of time; however, political and economic instability in Turkey incentivized them to stay in Germany. After Germany was reunified in the 1980s, the country saw a rise of Neo-Nazism and discrimination against immigrants. Young Turks formed gangs to confront Neo-Nazi forces, which began a period of gang conflict which German politicians and police authorities ignored. Since 2007, the tide has shifted and more Turks are going home instead of coming to Germany. Reasons include: heightened racism and Islamophobia due to the euro crisis, and improved job prospects in Turkey. These descendants must now deal with being foreigners in their own homeland.
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