The Migration of Turks and “New Homeland”
(45th Meeting of the PIAC, Budapest 2002)
The Turks are the largest ethnic minority in the Federal Republic of Germany. From 1963, when the mass exodus of Turks to Germany began, to 1983, when decrease compared to the previous year was recorded for the first time, their number in this country reached 1,7 million.
As a result of the waves of migration of Turks to Germany, two different cultures and approaches to life have met in this country for nearly four decades. This meeting caused considerable tension, but also produced cultural impulses, to which both of the participating cultures contributed but from which they also received, and both cultures have been enriched.