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| More than 24,000 Turks are currently enrolled in German universities, a good five times more than in 1980. Proof and hope of a strong-going German integration policy? Not likely. As a new study reveals, more than one-third of German students of Turkish background are planning to move back to Turkey in the future. | ||
According to the results of a survey carried out by the Turkish Academics and Students in Germany (TASD) in cooperation with the Applied Future and Organizational Research Institute (Futureorg Institute), 38 percent of Turkish academics currently in Germany intend to move to Turkey in the future. "We were both surprised and not surprised about the results," says Kamuran Sezer, a social scientist with the Futureorg Institute, which developed the survey. "On the one hand this high rate of repatriates is not a new phenomenon. We have already been observing this outward migration trend for some 10 years. Nonetheless, we had never expected the actual number to be that high," he says. Researchers also classified the reasons academics wish to move to Turkey. An overwhelming majority, 42 percent, say the reason is the "lack of a sense of feeling at home." This was followed by professional (21 percent) and economic reasons (11 percent). "According to these results, academics in Germany of Turkish background do not identify strongly with the country they live in," Sezer concludes. "At this point one really has to inquire about the shortfall of German integration policy," Sezer states. "How is it that these people are so discontent with a country they've lived in for so long?" he asks. Interestingly, the majority of respondents (73 percent) were born in Germany. However, answering these questions is up to both Germans and Turks, the researcher states. "Germany urgently needs a more of 'we-feeling,' a certain sense of belonging together and thus, also of tackling the actual problems and questions together," he emphasizes. Dr. Dirk Halm, a migration analyst with the Center for Turkish Studies (TAM) in Germany, is not surprised at all with the survey's results. "We always knew that career entry for academics of Turkish descent is much harder than for their German competitors," he says. However, the consequences of the migration movement for German society are serious. "If such a migration movement becomes widely accepted, this will surely be an obstacle for the further development of a proper Turkish middle-class -- which is actually of utmost importance if the German integration process is to be successful," Halm says. However, compared to Germans, immigrants still face many more difficulties in the German employment market, even when highly qualified. The employment rate among academics of non-German background is 68 percent, compared to 86 percent among ethnic Germans, according to the "Jobs for Immigrants" study, carried out in 2007 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This is reason enough, it seems, for highly educated Turks to consider leaving Germany and try their luck in Turkey. Multilingualism a plus Aslı Özkan is one such academic. She returned to Turkey six months ago and agrees that German academics of Turkish descent face more challenges in their work life than their German colleagues. "Being a Turk in Germany at the very least means you often have to prove yourself more than others," she says, giving the example of a friend who would frequently stress his Ph.D. title because he was treated more equally as a result. In contrast, the Turkish business environment looks favorably upon Turks who grew up in Germany. The highly reputed German university education, multi-lingual skills and intercultural experience are decisive factors that give applicants an added edge in the Turkish labor market. The repatriation debate has over the years become a hot topic of debate at the Berlin Turkish Science and Technology Center (BTBTM), a civil society initiative founded by academics and students of Turkish descent in Berlin, Ahmet Salih Yurdakul, a member of the BTBTM Board of Directors, says. The general perception in German integration politics is that well-educated Turks are unproblematic; in other words, well-educated Turks are usually regarded as "successfully integrated" immigrants, he explains. "However, the results of the study show that this is actually not the case and people have begun to wonder why these people want to leave Germany," he says. But successful integration is not only up to language skills or a satisfactory financial situation, he notes. "Integration is, first of all, a matter of feeling. And the fact is that many Turks simply feel unwelcome in Germany," he says, adding that this task is not only up to laws. "It is the general atmosphere in German society that has to change!" Even though academics may feel less discrimination than the majority of the less-educated migrants, "when I see other Turks being discriminated against, I too feel uncomfortable, irrespective of the fact that I am not directly being affected," Yurdakul says. Trying one's luck in Turkey again, the returnee's table may help! This situation has led many academics to try their luck in Turkey. However, starting anew in Turkey is not as easy as it may sound as some only know Turkey from their vacation experiences. Yurdakul knows about these difficulties, too. Having grown up in Turkey, he decided to study in Germany when he was 19. Today, after having lived in Germany for more than five years, he says Germany is not like Turkey. Özkan suggests being prepared for challenges that will naturally go along with any move. She, for example, struggled quite a bit to polish her Turkish. Another general cause for concern is Turkey's lack of proper social security. "Compared to Germany, you work more for less money and the insurance system is by far not as good as the German one," Özkan says, noting that this should be something to be kept in mind when really thinking about a life-long stay in Turkey. It was these questions and concerns of the so-called "returnees" that brought up the idea of establishing a "returnee's table," a kind of meeting point for Turkish repatriates in İstanbul. Çiğdem Akkaya, a businesswoman who lived in Germany for many years before returning to Turkey, made the initiative reality two years ago. "We observed very high demand for a community of Turkish repatriates here," she says. Together with some friends she established the "Returnees' Table." Starting with 12 participants, the group has grown to over 50 regulars today. A further 800 are connected to the group via newsletters and the online forum "Xing." Most are academics and are happy to have a group with which they can exchange information. "We are different -- not fully Turkish but not completely German either. It's good to have space for that, too," she says.
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| KRISTINA KAMP İSTANBUL Interview mit Ahmet Salih Yurdakul (BTBTM-Vorstandsmitglied)... BITTE HIER KLICKEN, UM ZUM ARTIKEL ZU GELANGEN!!! | ||
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