Turkey has long been characterized as a “country of emigration” due to the large scale migration of workers to Western Europe since the 1960s. Turkey, however, has increasingly become a “transit country” and a “country of immigration” in...
moreTurkey has long been characterized as a “country of emigration” due to the large scale migration of workers to Western Europe since the 1960s. Turkey, however, has increasingly become a “transit country” and a “country of immigration” in recent years. Today Turkey faces various migration flows such as transit migrants, clandestine immigrant workers, high-skilled personnel, asylum seekers, and refugees from different countries. Among these migrant groups there are highly-skilled German citizens with and without Turkish migration background. This is the group of migrants upon which this article focuses.
However, in order to contextualize my work, I will first give a very brief overview od migration movements to Turkey (section 1). Although this overview also includes some historical information on migration movements into the Ottoman Empire and the young Republic, it mainly focuses on the various characteristics of the above mentioned migrant groups in today’s Turkey. In section 2, I give some insights regarding the main characteristics of German citizens living in Turkey. In this context, I first list the different groups of German citizens in Turkey (Bosporus Germans, posted personnel and their families, German spouses of Turkish citizens, children of these German-Turkish couples, retired German citizens, life-style migrants and German citizens with Turkish migration background), and then Itouch upon their legal status and their main problems. In a third step, I take a glance at the discourse on the migration of highly qualified German citizens with and without Turkish background from Germany. In this context, I point to the different perceptions and evaluations of the out-migration of highly qualified migrants with and without Turkish migration background in the public and academic discourse.
The last and main part of my article summarizes the findings of my research project “Istanbul Calling: Transnational Life- and Work Worlds of Highly Skilled Female German Citizens with and without Turkish Migration background” (section 4). After a short characterization of the interviewees, I underline the differences and similarities within the interviews of highly skilled German women with and without Turkish Migration background. In this context, I mainly focus on their migration motivations, their integration into the labor market, their socio-cultural networks and their transnationality.
With regard to their migration movements (section 4.1.) I argue that the reason these women came to Istanbul cannot be reduced to one or two factors. Although all interview partners mentioned various initiating reasons such as career advancement, partnership, going back to their roots, adventure or a desire for change, which leads them to toy with the idea of going to Istanbul, none of them came at all costs. The realization of their step to Istanbul was always a combination of various factors. They took this decision during a particular phase of their life courses, when they thought that this step would match with various aspects of their private and professional life plans. As the interviewees were all highly-qualified and independent women, they all also had job-related considerations. Most of the interviewees thought that their migration to Turkey would either fit into their career advancement in financial and/or satisfactory terms or rather they rather risked a professional change in order to find self-fulfilment. Apart from the latent wish “to go back to their roots”, which was mentioned by some women with Turkish migration background, there were no significant differences in migration motivations between women with and without Turkish migration background. All of them had a kind affinity for Turkey or Istanbul respectively and all wanted to continue their private and professional life there.
As job-related considerations and reasons were very important migration motivations for most of my interviewees, their integration into the labour market in Istanbul is also an important issue for their lifeworlds and my research (section 4.2.). In this context, it should be pointed out that integration into the Turkish labour sector was not an issue for the posted personnel and the self-employed interviewees, who worked for their non-Turkish clients or employees. These German women with and without Turkish migration background were professionally not connected with the Turkish labour market. However, all the others had to integrate into the labour market in Istanbul – and this was a difficult task for all of them! All in all it should be pointed out that the difficulties mentioned by the interviewees differed enormously according to their particular German or Turkish migration backgrounds.
Legal entrance into the labour market with a work permit was one of the main problems for German citizens without Turkish migration background. Many of them complained about the difficulty to obtain a work permit and engaged in illegal work. The work situation for female German citizens with Turkish migration background is quite different from those without Turkish background. Due to their “blue card” they have free access to the Turkish labour market. However, this does not mean that they don’t face any difficulty in shaping their professional development. Some of them thought that there will be a big demand for their skills in the Turkish labour market and that any boss will be only too glad to take them. These women did not only have to find out that there is huge competition in the Turkish labour market, but also that they lacked a lot of necessary local knowledge and professional networks in the labour market. To overcome this deficit they need time. In addition, differences in the work culture, work discipline and the particular professional system with which the interviewees were raised created difficulty for many of my interview partners.
Socio-cultural networks are the subject of section 4.3. In this context, it should be noted, that all migrants with Turkish background interviewed in my sample have had several socio-cultural networks in Istanbul due to their family-connections and friends, since their arrival. These networks certainly helped them to solve various problems regarding their daily life such as finding flats, getting information, overcoming loneliness etc. However, according to my research results, these networks are of course important on a personal level, but should not be overestimated for all aspects of life. First, these socio-cultural networks did not help them to integrate in the labour market since many of these socio-cultural networks lack professional/sectorial insight. Secondly, it has to be underlined that the socio-cultural networks due to family-connections and friends do not make migrants’ lives easier per se, but also can make their lives more difficult. Apart from this it has to be underlined that German women without Turkish migration background also have various private or sometimes even a few professional contacts in Turkey, which have been important for their integration.
In the last sub-section (4.4) I focus on transnationality. All of my interviewees somehow maintain transnational contacts to Germany. However, I show in my article that the frequency and the form of these transnational ties depend very much on their particular life conditions. While some only have private contacts with family members and friends, some develop transnational professional networks as part of their careers. As frequent border-crossing is seen as an important indicator for transnationality, the frequency of their trips to Germany is a good proof of their transnational status. My empirical data shows in this context that their border-crossings are highly dependent on their particular living and working conditions. While those, who still struggle with the integration in the labour market do not have the financial means and aspiration to travel to Germany, those who are employed often lack necessary time. Others, however, are able to go to Germany up to 10 times a year due to their professional careers. Another important characteristic for transmigrants is the ambiguous relation to their region of origin and settlement and the unclear time frame of their migration. An important discovery for me was that in this context none of my interviewees had concrete ideas about where they will live in future. Although most of them saw their future in Turkey, a return to Germany or a migration to a third country was not out of question for nobody.
The article ends with a short conclusion (section 5).