Turkish ambassador corrects misimpression given about immigrants in Germany
Published on Sep 24, 2003
With reference to an article published in your distinguished newspaper on September 8, 2003 ("Germans rubbed wrong way"), in which it put forward certain unjust claims regarding the Turks living in Germany, I would like to make some remarks with the hope that it could correct the misleading Turkish portrait drawn in the said article by Prapairat Ratanaolan-Mix.
Personally, I am unaware of the nature of intimate relations that she claims to exist between the Thai women and Turkish men living in Germany. However, Mix seems to have a quite clear idea and I have nothing to say about it.
Yet, I cannot possibly agree with her views that depict Turkish migrants in Germany as "people regarded as problem makers, involved in drug trade and crime, and people who come to Germany with no intention of working, but to get welfare benefits".
Turks have been living in Germany for more than four decades. They first went there in the 1960s upon the invitation of the German government who needed foreign labour force to boost the economy. Since then, they substantially contributed to the recovery of the German economy and they still do so. Today, with their number exceeding two million, they own more than 50 thousand private businesses, employing not only Turks but also Germans.
Turks also managed to integrate themselves into the German society to a large extent. Many members of the second and third generation Turks acquired German citizenship and they actively participate in the social, political and economic spheres of life in Germany as respected and law-abiding citizens. There are even deputies in the German parliament who are of Turkish origin.
For these reasons, I believe the Turks in Germany should be given due credit, at least more than Mix gives them.
Ambassador Mumin Alanat
EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY