Turks in Europe


The Turks in Europe refers to ethnic Turks living in Europe. Most Turks in Europe live in European Turkey, but there is also a sizeable Turkish diaspora in countries such as Germany. This diaspora includes two groups: guest workers who migrated to western Europe in recent decades, and historic Turkish minorities in southeastern Europe who trace their origin back to the Ottoman era.
Turks have had a long history in Europe dating back to the Ottoman era when they began to conquer and migrate to Eastern Europe during the Ottoman conquests which, other than Turkey, created significant Turkish communities in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Romania.
Modern immigration of Turks to Western Europe began with Turkish Cypriots migrating to the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when the British Empire annexed Cyprus in 1914 and the residents of Cyprus became subjects of the Crown. However, Turkish Cypriot migration increased significantly in the 1940s and 1950s due to the Cyprus conflict. Conversely, in 1944, Turks who were forcefully deported from Meskheti in Georgia during the Second World War, known as the Meskhetian Turks, settled in Eastern Europe. By the early 1960s, migration to Western and Northern Europe increased significantly from Turkey when Turkish "guest workers" arrived under a "Labour Export Agreement" with Germany in 1961, followed by a similar agreement with the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria in 1964; France in 1965; and Sweden in 1967. More recently, Bulgarian Turks and Western Thrace Turks have also migrated to Western Europe. Turks now form the largest immigration groups in Europe with 6-9 million outside.The majority lives in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria and in France.

History

Ottoman migration

During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish settlers began to move into the Ottoman territories in Europe as part of the Turkish expansion, because these Turkish communities migrated to these countries during the Ottoman rule, they are not considered part of the modern Turkish diaspora. However, these populations, which have different nationalities, still share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious origins as today's Turkish nationals.

Balkan Turks

The conquest of the Balkans by the Ottomans set in motion important population movements of Turks brought over from Anatolia and Asia Minor, establishing a firm Turkish base for further conquests in Europe. Thus, the Ottomans used colonization as a very effective method to consolidate their position and power in the Balkans. The colonizers that were brought to the Balkans consisted of soldiers, nomads, farmers, artisans and merchants, dervishes, preachers and other religious functionaries, and administrative personnel. Densely populated Turkish colonies were established in the frontier regions of Thrace, the Maritsa and the Tundzha valleys. In addition to voluntary migrations, throughout the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, the Ottoman authorities also used mass deportations as a method of control over potentially rebellious individuals. One of the greatest impacts of the Ottoman colonization process of the Balkans was felt in the urban centres, many towns became major centres for Turkish control and administration, with most Christians gradually withdrawing to the mountains. The Ottomans embarked on creating new towns and repopulating older towns that had suffered significant population decline and economic dislocation during the wars preceding the Ottoman conquests. Major Balkan towns, especially those on or near transportation and communication routes, were the focal point of Ottoman colonization in the Balkans. Most urban centres in the Balkans, especially in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and Moesia, achieved Muslim/Turkish majorities or substantial minorities soon after the completion of the conquest and remained overwhelmingly Muslim in composition into the eighteenth century, and in some areas such as Macedonia and Bulgaria well into the nineteenth century. However, in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many Turks were displaced, ethnically cleansed, most of them fleeing to Anatolia. At present, there are still significant Turkish minorities living in Bulgaria, the province of East Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Romania.

Meskhetian Turks

The Meskhetian Turks, also known as Ahiska Turks, are group of Turks who reside, or used to reside, in Meskheti which is in the southwestern region of Georgia. The region came under Ottoman rule in the sixteenth century up until 1829. Today, approximately 600 to 1,000 Meskhetian Turks are still living in Georgia, the population drastically decreased in 1944 when Joseph Stalin deported approximately 100,000 of these Turks to Central Asia.

Turkish Cypriots

The Ottoman Turks conquered Cyprus in 1571 when they began a campaign which led to the fall of Nicosia in September 1570 and of Famagusta in August 1571. By 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers, which included soldiers who were involved in the conquest and their families, or agricultural colonizers, particularly from the Konya region, were given land on the island. Additionally, many of the islanders converted to Islam during the early years of Ottoman rule due to significant advantages to being Muslim. Thus, a strong Turkish element was formed in Cyprus’s population, which was later reinforced by immigration from Asia Minor.

Ottoman galley slaves and traders in Western Europe

As early as the 13th century Turkic slaves, from Central Asia and the Pontic Steppe, had been sold to northern Italian city states by Arab traders. Some of the slaves were bought free and mixed in with the local Italian population. At least from the 16th century onwards Ottoman traders settled in western European trading capitols such as Antwerp, Amsterdam and London. Turkish traders in the Netherlands had at least two mosques in Amsterdam in the early 17th century.

Modern migration

According to an estimate in the European Union there are 3,7 million ethnic Turks.

Turkish Cypriot migration to Great Britain (1920s-present)

Turkish Cypriots started to immigrate from Cyprus to the United Kingdom in the early 1920s when the British Empire annexed Cyprus in 1914 and the residents of Cyprus became subjects of the Crown. Many Turkish Cypriots went to the United Kingdom as students and tourists whilst others left the island due to the harsh economic and political life during the British Colony of Cyprus. Emigration to the United Kingdom continued to increase when the Great Depression of 1929 brought economic depression to Cyprus, with unemployment and low wages being a significant issue. During the Second World War, the number of Turkish run businesses increased which created a demand for more Turkish Cypriot workers. Thus, throughout the 1950s, Turkish Cypriots emigrated to the United Kingdom for economic reasons and by 1958 the number of Turkish Cypriots was estimated to be 8,500. Their numbers increased each year as rumours about immigration restrictions appeared in much of the Cypriot media.
, out of a total of 500,000 British Turks, living in the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, the 1950s saw the arrival of many more Turkish Cypriots to the United Kingdom who felt vulnerable as they had cause for concern about the political future of the island. This was first evident when the Greek Cypriots held a referendum in 1950 in which 95.7% of eligible Greek Cypriot voters cast their ballots in supporting a fight aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece. Hence, Turkish Cypriots fled to the United Kingdom due to the EOKA terrorists and its aim of Enosis. By the 1960s, inter-ethnic fighting broke out and by 1964 some 25,000 Turkish Cypriots became internally displaced, accounting to about a fifth of their population; furthermore, approximately 60,000 Turkish Cypriots were forcefully moved into Turkish Cypriot enclaves within Cyprus. This period in Cypriot history resulted in an exodus of more Turkish Cypriots to the United Kingdom. Other reasons for the continued migration to the United Kingdom was because of the economic gap which was widening in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots were increasingly taking control of the country’s major institutions causing the Turkish Cypriots to become economically disadvantaged. Thus, the political and economic unrest in Cyprus after 1964 sharply increased the number of Turkish Cypriot immigrants to the United Kingdom. Many of these early migrants worked in the clothing industry in London, where both men and women could work together- sewing was a skill which the community had already acquired in Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots were concentrated mainly in the north-east of London and specialised in the heavy-wear sector, such as coats and tailored garments. This sector offered work opportunities where poor knowledge of the English language was not a problem and where self-employment was a possibility.
Once the Greek military junta rose to power in 1967, Greece staged a coup d'état in 1974 against the Cypriot President, with the help of EOKA B, to unite the island with Greece. This led to a military offensive by Turkey who invaded the island. By 1983, the Turkish Cypriots declared their own state, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which has since remained internationally unrecognised except by Turkey. The division of the island led to an economic embargo against the Turkish Cypriots by the Greek Cypriot controlled Government of Cyprus. This had the effect of depriving the Turkish Cypriots of foreign investment, aid and export markets; thus, it caused the Turkish Cypriot economy to remain stagnant and undeveloped. Due to these economic and political issues, an estimated 130,000 Turkish Cypriots have emigrated from Northern Cyprus since its establishment to the United Kingdom. In 2011, the House of Commons, Home Affairs Committee suggested that there are now about 300,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the UK.

Meskhetian Turkish migration within Eastern Europe (1944-present)

The Meskhetian Turks, originally living in Meskheti which is a part of southern Georgia, are widely dispersed throughout the former Soviet Union as a result of forced deportations and discrimination which began in 1944. During World War II, the Soviet Union was preparing to launch a pressure campaign against Turkey and Vyacheslav Molotov, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, formally presented a demand to the Turkish Ambassador in Moscow for the surrender of three Anatolian provinces ; thus, war against Turkey seemed possible, and Joseph Stalin wanted to clear the strategic Turkish population located near the Turkish-Georgian border which were likely to be hostile to Soviet intentions.
In 1944, the Meskhetian Turks were forcefully deported from Meskheti in Georgia and accused of smuggling, banditry and espionage in collaboration with their kin across the Turkish border. Nationalistic policies at the time encouraged the slogan: "Georgia for Georgians" and that the Meskhetian Turks should be sent to Turkey "where they belong". Joseph Stalin deported the Meskhetian Turks to Central Asia, thousands dying en route in cattle-trucks, and were not permitted by the Georgian government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia to return to their homeland.
In the late 1970s, the Stavropol and Krasnodar authorities in Russia visited various regions of Uzbekistan to invite and recruit Meskhetian Turks to work in agriculture enterprises in southern Russia. By 1985, Moscow issued a proposal inviting more Meskhetian Turks to move to villages in southern Russia that had been abandoned by ethnic Russians who were moving to the cities. However, the Meskhetian Turks response was that they would only leave Uzbekistan if the move were to be to their homeland. Then, in 1989, ethnic Uzbeks began a series of actions against the Turks, they became the victims of riots in the Ferghana valley which led to over a hundred deaths. Within days, Decision 503 was announced "inviting" the Turks to occupy the empty farms in southern Russia that they had resisted moving to for years and around 17,000 Meskhetian Turks were evacuated to Russia. Meskhetian Turks maintain that Moscow had planned the Uzbek riots. By the early 1990s, of the 70,000 Meskhetian Turks who were still resident in Uzbekistan, approximately 50,000 Meskhetian Turkish refugees went to Azerbaijan due to continued discrimination whilst others went to Russia and Ukraine due to fears of continued violence.

Mainland Turkish migration to Western and Northern Europe (1960s-present)

The "gastarbeiters" (guest workers)
The concept of the Gastarbeiter involved the agreements between the host country and Turkey which was bound up with policies of the governments involved, with state bureaucracies on both sides ultimately responsible for the dispatch and settlement of the workers. Subsequently, labor agreements were signed with several European countries- with Germany in 1961; with Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands in 1964; with France in 1965; and with Sweden in 1967. The agreements were based on a principle of rotation, and a worker was expected to return home after a year of employment abroad. However, employers wanted to retain workers who had become accustomed to the work; therefore, the rotation principle never became practice. Workers were not permitted to take their families abroad with them, and were housed in group living quarters or dormitories known as "Heim".
Family reunifications
By the early 1970s, the majority of Turkish emigration to Western Europe was for the purpose of family reunification. Furthermore, by the 1990s, migration mainly by way of marriage continued to be one of the principal reasons for settling in Western Europe.

Migration of Western Thrace Turks to Western Europe (1960s-present)

About 25,000 to 40,000 Turks of Western Thrace, who are the ethnic Turks who live in the north-eastern part of Greece, have emigrated to Western Europe. Between 12,000 and 25,000 moved to Germany in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Thracian tobacco industry was affected by a severe crisis and many tobacco growers lost their income. After Germany, the Netherlands is the most popular destination for Western Thrace Turks, especially in the region of Randstad. There is also an estimated 600-700 Western Thrace Turks living in London, although the total number living outside London is unknown.

Migration of Bulgarian Turks to Western Europe (2000s-present)

According to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Turks make up 12% of short term migrants, 13% of long term migrants, and 12% of the labour migrants. However, it is unlikely that this generalisation shows a true indication of the ethnic make-up of Bulgarian citizens living abroad because Bulgarian citizens of Turkish origin make up entire majorities in some countries. For example, out of the 10,000 to 30,000 people from Bulgaria living in the Netherlands, the majority, of about 80%, are ethnic Turks from Bulgaria who have come from the south-eastern Bulgarian district of Kurdzhali. Moreover, the Bulgarian Turks are the fastest-growing group of immigrants in the Netherlands. There is also about 30,000 Bulgarian Turks living in Sweden, a growing community in the United Kingdom and Germany, and 1,000 in Austria.

Demographics

CountryCurrent est. Turkish populationFurther informationLists of Turks
350,000-500,000Turks in AustriaList of Austrian Turks
19,000
90,000-110,000
Turks in Azerbaijan
200,000 250,000Turks in BelgiumList of Belgian Turks
50,000 Turks in Bosnia and Herzegovina
746,664 Turks in BulgariaList of Bulgarian Turks
367
2,000 		Turks of Croatia
1,700

2,000
300,000-500,000 		Turkish CypriotsList of Cypriots
70,000 80,000Turks in Denmark
24
10,000Turks in Finland
1,000,000- 1,200,000
plus thousands of Algerian Turks		Turks in FranceList of French Turks
600-1,000 Turks in Georgia
2,774,000 to 4,000,000
or 5,000,000 		Turks in Germany
List of German Turks

Western Thrace
Athens
Rhodes and Kos
Thessaloniki		Total unknown
80,000-130,000
10,000 to 15,000
5,000
5,000		Turks in Greece
1,700Turks in Hungary
68
3,000Turks in Ireland
22,580 Turkish citizensTurks in Italy
150,000 Turks in Kazakhstan
50,000-100,000 Turks in Kosovo
142:lv:Turki Latvijā
1,000Turks in Liechtenstein
35
450
170,000-200,000 Turks in North Macedonia
53
Turks in Moldova
57
104 Turks in Montenegro
400,000-500,000 627,000
Plus 10,000-30,000 Bulgarian Turks.		Turks in the NetherlandsList of Dutch Turks
16,000Turks in Norway
2,500Turks in Poland
250
28,226
-55,000-80,000		Turks in Romania
120,000-150,000Turks in Russia
647 Turks in Serbia
150
259
4,000Turks in Spain
100,000-125,000
Plus 30,000 Bulgarian and Macedonian Turks		Turks in Sweden
100,000-120,000Turks in SwitzerlandList of Swiss Turks
10,000,000 Turkish peopleList of Turks
10,000 Turks in Ukraine
500,000 Turks in the United KingdomList of British Turks
TotalExcluding Turkey: 5-10,000,000
Including European Turkey: ~ 15-20,000,000

Religion