Binding the Almancı to the “Homeland” – Notes from Turkey, Barbara PUSCH and Julia SPLITT

Year 2013, Volume: 18 Issue: 3, 129 - 166, 01.10.2013

Barbara Pusch Julia Splıtt

Abstract

The Turkish- German migration movement did not start with the recruitment agreement in 1961. However, with this agreement, migration from Turkey became a new dynamic. As migration is usually accompanied by return migration, we may also say that the TurkishGerman migration movements have not been only characterised by the migration of Turkish citizens to Germany, but also by their return. Consequently, we can observe different types of return migration parallel to the changing nature of migration movements to Germany in the last 50 years. Today, more than 50 years after the recruitment agreement, the population with Turkish migration background has significantly changed. For immigrants with Turkish background in Germany, we can identify several aspects, such as rising age, the increasing number of naturalisations and the rising educational level of the second and particularly the third and fourth generations. As a result, the type of people returning to Turkey has also varied: A rough segmentation reveals three types of returnees today: i those retirees who decided to live their retirement days in Turkey, ii those retirees who spend half of the year in Germany and half of the year in Turkey and iii those second and third generation young and educated people who come to Turkey for job possibilities. In particular, the last group- the young and highly educated- cannot be called returnees as such as they were born in the country where their forebears settled. However, this group of young and educated migrants is often lucky in the sense that their professional skills correspond to the needs of the Turkish labour market. While previous returnees often drove taxis or delivery trucks, built rental houses or set up small businesses and became part of the service sector, they now work in many different sectors ranging from arts and culture to telecommunications, engineering, banking and are often involved in the global economy. In this article, we will first give an overview of the return migration from the 1960s onwards. Then we will refer to the return and reintegration policies of the Turkish state. By doing so, we will not only point to the changing nature of these policies in general, but particularly look at rather new developments, such as the introduction of the Mavi Kart Blue Card and the foundation of the Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Başkanlığı Presidency of Turks Abroad and Related Communities for binding highly educated Almancıs to their parents’ or grandparents’ homeland.

Keywords

Almancı, return migration, Turkey, Germany, reintegration policy.

References

• Anne Dietrich, Deutschsein in Istanbul. Nationalisierung und Orientierung in der deutschsprachigen Community von 1843 bis 1956, Opladen, Leske & Budrich, 1998; Anne Dietrich, “Deutsche Frauen in der Türkei- Arbeitsmigrantinnen, Heiratsmigrantinnen, Emigrantinnen”, Zeitschrift für Türkeistudien, Vol. 1 (1996), pp. 99-112. 8 Malte Fuhrmann, “Das Deutsche Krankenhaus”, in von Kummer (ed.), Deutsche Präsenz am Bosporus, pp. 257-269.
• For the changing nature of the German School in Istanbul, see, Barbara Pusch, “Gesellschaftlicher Wandel und die Deutsche Schule Istanbul”, in Arnd-Michael Nohl and Barbara Pusch (eds.), Bildung und gesellschaftlicher Wandel. Historische und aktuelle Aspekte, Würzburg, Ergon Verlag, Istanbuler Texte und Studien 26, 2011, pp. 225-239.
• Anne Dietrich, “Deutsches Gemeindeleben- ein Aspekt christlichen Lebens in der Türkei”, Zeitschrift für Türkeistudien, Vol. 2 (1999), pp. 285-291.
• For an overview on German institutions in Turkey see, Barbara Radt, “Von der Teutonia bis zur Brücke- Zur Deutschsprachigen Infrastruktur in Istanbul”, Zeitschrift für Türkeistudien, Vol. 19, No. 1 (2006), pp. 152-159.
• Ahmet Akgünüz, Labour Migration from Turkey to Western Europe, 1960-1974, Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2008, p. 104.
• Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, Migrationsbericht 2011, Nürnberg, Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 2013, p. 158.
• Ibid., p. 164. Since 2005, “migration background” is an official term of the German statistics. The Federal Statistical Office defines persons with foreign citizenship, people who were born abroad and those whose at least one parent was born abroad or has foreign citizenship as “with migration background”.
• Ibid., pp. 159 and 165.
• Faruk Şen, Türkische Arbeitnehmergesellschaften. Reintegrations- und Integrationsproblematik der Türken in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Frankfurt a. M./Berlin, Verlag Peter Lang, 1983, p. 33.
• Nermin Abadan-Unat, Ruşen Keleş, Rinus Penninx, Herman Van Renselaar, Leo Van Velzen and Leylâ Yenisey (eds.), Migration and Development. A Study of the Effects of International Labor Migration on Boğazlıyan District, Ankara, Ajans -Türk Press, 1976, pp. 27 and 47.
• Ibid., p. 175; Suzanne Paine, Exporting Workers: The Turkish Case, London, Cambridge University Press, 1974.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, pp. 192-193 and 386. 23 Akgünüz
• Labour Migration from Turkey to Western Europe, 1960-1974, p. 104. Society”, p. 39.
• Ibrahim Sirkeci, Jeffrey H. Cohen and Pınar Yazgan, “The Turkish Culture of Migration: Flows Between Turkey and Germany, Socio-Economic Development and Conflict”, Migration Letters, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2012), pp. 33-46.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, pp. 310 and 378; Ali Gitmez, “Geographical and Occupational Re-Integration of Returning Turkish Workers”, in Daniel Kubat (ed.), The Politics of Return, Rom, Center for Migration Studies, 1984; Ali Gitmez, “Migration without Development: the Case of Turkey”, in Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Philip L. Martin (eds.), The Unsettled Relationship: Labor Migration and Economic Development, New York, Greenwood Press, 1991, pp. 115-34.
• Kaya and Adaman, “The Impact of Turkish-Origin Returnees/Transmigrants on Turkish Society”, p. 41.
• Helga Rittersberger-Tılıç, Vom Gastarbeiter zum Deutschler. Die Rückkehrgemeinschaft in einer türkischen Kleinstadt, Potsdam, Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, 1998, p. 144; Kaya and Adaman, “The Impact of Turkish-Origin Returnees/Transmigrants on Turkish Society”, pp. 37-57.
• Beispiel Deutschland und Türkei, Wiesbaden, Springer VS, 2013, p. 54.
• Thomas Faist, “Transnational Social Spaces out of International Migration: Evolution, Significance and Future Prospects”, Archives Européennes de Sociologie, Vol. 39, No. 2 (1998), pp. 213-247. Society”, pp. 37-57.
• Helen Baykara-Krumme and Bernhard Nauck, “Familienmigration und neue Migrationsformen. Die Mehrgenerationenstudie LineUp”, in Aytac Eryılmaz and Cordula Lissner (eds.), Geteilte Heimat-50 Jahre Migration aus der Türkei, Essen, Klartext, 2011, pp. 136-146.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, pp. 102, 306 and 378; Gitmez, “Geographical and Occupational Re-Integration of Returning Turkish Workers”; Akçaylı, “Die türkischen Rückkehrer und ihre Chancen in den Türkei-Auswirkungen des Rückkehrförderungsgesetzes aus türkischer Sicht”, p. 32.
• Yaşar Aydın, “Transnational” statt “nicht integriert”. Abwanderung türkeistämmiger Hochqualifizierter aus Deutschland, Konstanz/München, UVK, 2013; Kaya and Adaman, “The Impact of Turkish-Origin Returnees/Transmigrants on Turkish Society”, pp. 37-57.
• Ludger Pries, Die Transnationalisierung der sozialen Welt, Frankfurt a.M., Suhrkamp, 2008; Thomas Faist, Margit Fauser and Eveline Reisenauer, “Perspektiven der Migrationsforschung: Vom Transnationalismus zur Transnationalität”, Soziale Welt, Vol. 62 (2011), pp. 201-208; Margit Fauser and Eveline Reisenauer, “Diversität und Dynamik transnationaler persönlicher Beziehungen türkischer MigrantInnen in Deutschland”, in Pusch (ed.), Transnationale Migration am Beispiel Deutschland und Türkei, pp. 171-185.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 1 and 51.
• The political basis for the beginning of this out migration was the fundamental right of freedom to travel for Turkish citizens, established in the constitution of 1961, which at the same time implied a beginning opening of the Turkish society; Nermin Abadan-Unat, Bitmeyen Göç: Konuk İşçilikten Ulus-Ötesi Yurttaşlığa, Istanbul, İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2006, p. 53 and 58; Erder and Yükseker, “Die türkische Migration nach Westeuropa und die Migrationsstudien in der Türkei”, p. 52.
• G. Adomeit, Almanya da Çalışan Türk İşçilerin Yurda Dönüşlerinde İş Alanları İle İlgili Memleketin Endustrileşmesi Yolunda Alınacak Tedbirler Hakkında Rapor, Ankara, DPT, 1971; Emin Atalay, “Gastarbeit und Industrieplanung”, p. 142.
• Anonym and Daniel Kubat, “Türkei”, in Ernst Gehmacher, Daniel Kubat, and Ursula Mehrländer (eds.), Ausländerpolitik im Konflikt. Arbeitskräfte oder Einwanderer? Konzepte der Aufnahme- und Entsendeländer, Bonn, Verlag Neue Gesellschaft, 1978, p. 253.
• Osman Tuncay Aydas, Kivilcim Metin-Ozcan and Bilin Neyaptı, “Determinants of Workers’ Remittances- The Case of Turkey”, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Vol. 41, No. 3 (May-June 2005), p. 66.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 3 and 325; Atalay, “Gastarbeit und Industrieplanung”, p. 138; Zadil, “Wiedereingliederungsprobleme in der Türkei”, p. 148.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, pp. 100 and 381-382.
• Erder and Yükseker, “Die türkische Migration nach Westeuropa und die Migrationsstudien in der Türkei”, p. 59; Kaya and Adaman, “The Impact of Turkish-Origin Returnees/ Transmigrants on Turkish Society”, p. 46. 54 Şen
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 48; Anonym and Kubat, “Türkei”, p. 254.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 54.
• The economic dimension of and assumed socioeconomic development by (return) migration has also been a shared interest in international migration research at that time, see, Russell King (ed.), Return Migration and Regional Economic Problems, London, Croom Helm, 1986; Philip L. Martin, The Unfinished Story: Turkish Labour Migration to Western Europe with Special Reference to the Federal Republic of Germany, Genf, International Labour Office, 1991.
• See, Nevzat Yalçıntaş, “İşçilerin Yurda Dönüşleri ve Şirketleri”, Ekonomide Para Kredi, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January 1981), pp. 22-24; Rasih Demirci, “Yurt Dışındaki İşçilerimizin Geri Dönüşü ve Kooperatifler”, Karınca, Vol. 49, No. 551 (November 1982), pp. 7-9.
• Atalay, “Gastarbeit und Industrieplanung”, p. 140; Akçaylı, “Die türkischen Rückkehrer und ihre Chancen in den Türkei-Auswirkungen des Rückkehrförderungsgesetzes aus türkischer Sicht”, p. 35. On the contrary, the German industry capitalised on these cooperatives through an export of its machines to Turkey, see, Şen, Türkische Arbeitnehmergesellschaften, p. 52.
• See the following statements by Turkish representatives: “Of course our citizens cannot stay abroad forever”, Zadil, “Wiedereingliederungsprobleme in der Türkei”, p. 146; “The guest worker must know that he must return when his time comes”. Fevzi Aksoy, “Die Anpassungsschwierigkeiten eines Gastarbeiters”, p. 154. 63 Şen
• Zadil, “Wiedereingliederungsprobleme in der Türkei”, p. 147; Şen, Türkische Arbeitnehmergesellschaften, p. 50.
• Akçaylı, “Die türkischen Rückkehrer und ihre Chancen in den Türkei-Auswirkungen des Rückkehrförderungsgesetzes aus türkischer Sicht”, p. 43.
• This term has also been used by Turkish state representatives in the context of the current “binding” policy until today.
• In 1974, Fevzi Aksoy, chief physician of the city neurology clinic in Istanbul, who referred to psychological adaptation problems of the “guest workers”, and thus he argued for an opening of cultural sites in the host country by the “home government” in order not to lose their interest in their “homeland”, see, Aksoy, “Die Anpassungsschwierigkeiten eines Gastarbeiters”, p. 154.
• This even went as far as referring to a worker’s stay abroad as fulfilling a “mission” to his homeland in the host country, i.e. contributing to the development of his “homeland” with his new knowledge and skills, see, Ibid.
• Erder and Yükseker, “Die türkische Migration nach Westeuropa und die Migrationsstudien in der Türkei”, p. 51. This view correspondents with the German perspective which did not consider them as “immigrants” either until recently. It also shows how the so-called “myth of return” was kept alive by the Turkish state as much as by the German state, see, Pöschl and Schmuck, Die Rückkehr – Ende einer Illusion.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. xxiv, 97, 383 and 386; Faruk Şen, “Reintegration unter dem Aspekt der neuen türkischen Wirtschaftspolitik”, in Helmut Birkenfeld (ed.), Gastarbeiterkinder aus der Türkei. Zwischen Eingliederung und Rückwanderung, München, Süddeutscher Verlag, 1982, p. 151; Şen, “Rückkehrproblematik und Verbleibeabsichten türkischer Familien in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland”.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 98.
• Ibid., pp. 41- 42.
• Institut für Empirische Psychologie, Leitfaden für die Beratung türkischer Asylbewerber zur Förderung der Rückkehrbereitschaft, Köln, Selbstverlag, 1981.
• Helmut Birkenfeld, “Auffangschulen in der Türkei”, in Helmut Birkenfeld (ed.), Gastarbeiterkinder aus der Türkei. Zwischen Eingliederung und Rückwanderung, München, Süddeutscher Verlag, 1982, pp. 153-161; Ayhan Kaya and Fikret Adaman, “Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe. Final Country Report Turkey”, at http://eu.bilgi.edu.tr/images/pictures/FCR_TR_mainreport_EN.pdf [last visited 9 September 2013].
• Zentrale für Amtsvermittlung – Auslandsabteilung, Lehrkräfte an türkischen Schulen, Frankfurt a.M., 1986, p. 1.
• For a comprehensive overview on current migration research in Turkey see, Erder and Yükseker, “Die türkische Migration nach Westeuropa und die Migrationsstudien in der Türkei”, pp. 56-61.
• Can O. Ünver, “Social Assistance to Labour Migrants as a New Form of Public Service: The Case of Turkish Labour Attaches in Germany”, in Emrehan Zeybekoğlu and Bo Johansson (eds.), Migration and Labour in Europe: Views from Turkey and Sweden, Istanbul, Marmara University, 2003, pp. 82-102.
• Ayhan Kaya and Ferhat Kentel, Euro-Türkler, Istanbul, İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2005.
• This surprises as the increasing out migration of (highly-skilled) people of Turkish origin from Germany since 2006 has been widely discussed in German media.
• Kaya and Adaman, “Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe”, p. 28.
• Exceptional in this context are the scholarships and programmes to attract researchers and students of Turkish origin to come to Turkey. According to Kaya and Adaman, the YTB intends, for example, to increase the contingent reserved for successful Turkish- origin students to enrol in Turkish universities, see, Kaya and Adaman, “Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe”, p. 28.
• See official website, TIKA’s History, at http://www.tika.gov.tr/en/about-us/history/1 [last visited 14 September 2013].
• Major fields of activity include education, health, water and water hygiene, administrative and civil infrastructure, other social infrastructure and services, see TIKA’s official website, Fields of Activity, at http://www.tika.gov.tr/en/fields-of-activity/2 [last visited 14 September 2013].
• See official website, About TIKA, at http://www.tika.gov.tr/en/about-us/1 [last visited 14 September 2013]; Ayhan Kaya and Ayşe Tecmen, “The Role of Common Cultural Heritage in External Promotion of Modern Turkey: Yunus Emre Cultural Centres”, Working Paper, No. 4 (2011), p. 13, at http://eu.bilgi.edu.tr/docs/working-paper4_2.pdf [last visited 10
• Bilgili and Siegel, “Understanding the Changing Role of the Turkish Diaspora”, p. 11.
• “Yunus Emre Institutes to Introduce Turkish Culture”, Today’s Zaman, 4 July 2007.
• Hayati Develi, chairman of the YEE, in his discussion of Klaus Kreiser’s presentation “From the House of Friendship to Yunus Emre. A Century of German-Turkish Cultural Relations” at the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) on 4 September 2013.
• Abadan-Unat et al., Migration and Development, p. 339.
• For an overview on the ministries and governmental organizations involved in migration issues, see, Bilgili and Siegel, “Understanding the Changing Role of the Turkish Diaspora”.
• The basis of the YTB is the Law No. 485 on the Organisation and Duties of the Presidency of Turks Abroad and Related Communities (Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Başkanlığı Teşkilat ve Görevleri Hakkında Kanun), at http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/sirasayi/ donem23/yil01/ss485.pdf [last visited 10 September 2013].
• See, http://www.ytb.gov.tr/index.php/kurumsal/hakkimizda.html [last visited 3 September 2013].
• For further analysis, see, Çağlayan Çetin, Turkey’s Identity Question in European Union Accession Process, unpublished master thesis, Istanbul Bilgi University, 2011.
• Kemal Yurtnaç, “Turkey’s New Horizon: Turks Abroad and Related Communities”, SAM Papers, No. 3 (October 2012).
• See, for instance, the flash news on the nullification/abolishment of the headscarf ban in Swiss schools, at http://www.ytb.gov.tr/index.php/yurtdisi-vatandaslar/947-2013071201. html. [last visited 10 November 2013].
• For this, see the scholarships for Turkish students abroad, at http://www.ytb.gov.tr/index. php/yurtdisinda-burs-imkanlari.html, and the scholarships for international students in Turkey, at http://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/, that were announced on the Presidency’s website.
• Law Nr. 6304 gives Turkish citizens the right to vote in embassies and consulate generals abroad. Until 2012 this was not possible.
• Most scholarships were received by students from the Turkic states in Central Asia, followed by students from Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans, see, Aydın Albayrak, “Turkey Works to Transform Overseas Turks into Diaspora”, Today’s Zaman, 30 April 2013. These regions can also be seen in line, at least in part, with the “related communities”.
• See, Yurtnaç, “Turkey’s New Horizon: Turks Abroad and Related Communities”.
• Personal interview with Gürsel Dönmez, the vice chairman of the YTB, Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.
• In order to reach this goal, a first general assembly of Turks abroad was held in Turkey in 2010 as well as further smaller meetings with diaspora representatives organised by the YTB in recent years. See, Albayrak, “Turkey Works to Transform Overseas Turks into Di- aspora”.
• Ayhan Kaya, “Yunus Emre Cultural Centres: The AKP’s Neo-Ottomanism and Islamism”, Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 13 (2013), p. 56.
• Personal interview with Gürsel Dönmez, the vice chairman of the YTB, Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.
• Yücel Boydağlıoğlu, “Modernity, Identity and Turkey’s foreign policy”, Insight Turkey, Vol. 10, No. 1 (2008), pp. 55-57.
• This is also reflected in the YTB’s focus on international students in Turkey and cultural exchange.
• Yurtnaç, “Turkey’s New Horizon: Turks Abroad and Related Communities”, p. 4.
• Personal interview with Bilge Aydın, an assistant expert at the YTB, Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.
• Kaya and Tecmen, “The Role of Common Cultural Heritage in External Promotion of Modern Turkey: Yunus Emre Cultural Centres”; Çetin, Turkey’s Identity Question in European Union Accession Process.
• Kaya and Adaman, “Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe”, pp. 27-29.
• Poland, India and Mexico provide similar identity cards for their former citizens.
• Ayşe Çağlar, “’Citizenship light’: Transnational Ties, Multiple Rules of Membership and the ‘Pink Card’”, in Jonathan Friedman and Shalini Randeria (eds.), Worlds on the Move: Globalization, Migration and Cultural Security, London/New York, I.B. Tauris, 2004, pp. 273-292; Vera Artz, “Bürger in Anführungsstrichen”? Die Mavi Kart zwischen Staatsbürgerschaftsersatz und neuen Formen der Mitgliedschaft, unpublished master thesis, Osnabrück University, 2013.
• Ali Aslan Kılıç, “Relinquishing Turkish Citizenship won’t Affect Rights in Turkey”, Today’s Zaman, 1 May 2011.
• Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, Migrationsbericht 2011.
• These numbers were mentioned by Kemal Yurtnaç in a press interview. See, “Blue Card to grant Turkish Germans special privileges in Turkey”, Today’s Zaman, 12 October 2011.
• See, “Mavi Kart Müjesi”, Yeni Akit Gazetesi, 3 May 2013; “Mavikartl’lılar için yeni dönem”, Radikal, 3 May 2013.
• Personal interview with Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.
• Personal interview with Gürsel Dönmez, the vice chairman of the YTB, Barbara Pusch, 28 August 2013, Ankara. See also, Albayrak, “Turkey Works to Transform Overseas Turks into Diaspora”.
• See, Kadirbeyoğlu, “Changing Conceptions of Citizenship in Turkey”, p. 424.
• The law is available at http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/tutanaklar/KANUNLAR_KARARLAR/ kanuntbmmc078/kanuntbmmc078/kanuntbmmc07804112.pdf [last visited 3 September 2013].
• The law is available at http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/kanunlar/k5203.html [last visited 3 September 2013].
• The law is available at http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/kanunlar/k6304.html [last visited 3
• See, Çağlar, “Citizenship Light”, pp. 273-292; Artz, “Bürger in Anführungsstrichen”?; Kaya and Adaman, “Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe”.
• See, for example, the discussions started by Mavi Kart holders in the Facebook group “Rückkehrerstammtisch”, at www.facebook.com [last visited 16 July 2013].
• Personal interview with E. Elif Gönüllü and İbrahim Demiryürek, Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.
• Kılıç, “Relinquishing Turkish Citizenship Won’t Affect Rights in Turkey”.
• “’Blue Card’ to Grant Turkish Germans Special Privileges in Turkey.” 139 Ibid.
• While Turkish citizens living abroad are able to apply for a Turkish pension, Blue Card holders is not given this right yet, see, http://www.haberturk.com/yazarlar/ali-tezel-1016/786619- gurbetcilerin-borclanma-ile-emeklilik-hakki-bitiyor [last visited 3 September 2013].
• This was clearly stated by E. Elif Gönüllü and İbrahim Demiryürek during the personal interview with Barbara Pusch, Ankara, 28 August 2013.