‘The creation of a new Turkey will start in Germany’

Abstract

This chapter unravels Turkey’s involvement in the Turkish organisational field in Germany, through a focus on the outreach activities of various state institutions. The chapter points out that, as with the situation in France, Turkey’s engagement with the Turkish community in Germany follows specific political goals and that Ankara’s diaspora engagement policies have empowered certain pro-government Turkish diaspora groups at the expense of others. With its population of 3 million (of whom 1.4 million are eligible to cast their ballots in Turkish elections, and 950,000 are eligible to vote in German elections), the Turkish diaspora in Germany serves as a significant lobbing power and a constituency for Turkish elections. This chapter uses anecdotes and narratives of diaspora organisation representatives, official documents and reports and news sources to shed light on how select subgroups (conservative-nationalist and Sunni-Islamic) of the Turkish diaspora have responded to Turkey’s outreach efforts in Germany. The chapter first presents the history of Turkish organisational life in Germany and examines Turkish political mobilisation in the country prior to 2003. The second part of the chapter explores the role of increased official correspondence with Turkish immigrant organisations, pro-government diaspora rallies and diaspora diplomacy activities conducted by conservative-nationalist and Sunni-Islamic leaders in Germany.