Being late to integration

“Brother, you talk about integration, but even dogs get assimilated here. Have you ever noticed? You see hundreds of dogs in the street every day, but you never hear any of them bark. Why? Because they’ve been assimilated. The dog has lost its dog-ness.”

These somewhat humorous words of a third-generation Turkish youth regarding integration policies in Europe express a perception of integration very well. Of course, it does not reflect the perspective of all Turkish youth. Perhaps the perception of discrimination may mainly be related to failing to forge a success story, not having adequate language skills, and not being open to communication channels, which is an understandable situation. When people cannot use communication channels productively, they rely more on emotionality, and in this case, emotional interactions determine perceptions far more than facts.

The German economy is among those most affected by globalization. As hundreds of factories relocate to different parts of the world in search of cheap labor and costs, they leave behind a massive army of the unemployed. The first segment hit by the rise in unemployment is the Turks, whose primary occupation is manual labor. This increases both the discontent of Turks and their demands—whether justified or unjustified. According to figures provided, the unemployment rate of Turks is more than double that of people of German origin. This fuels a deep sense of pessimism regarding Germany's future or their own future in Germany. The "Alamancıs" can no longer transfer money to Turkey as they used to; what they earn is barely enough for themselves. On the other hand, not having found a sufficient return for the resources they transferred in the past to many activities and sectors in Turkey is a separate source of resentment.

While living with the expectation of returning one day, the day came when they decided to stay, but they are paying the price of a delay in adapting to Germany's conditions that is almost irrecoverable. This sense of delay is experienced separately among Turks, on the Turkish side, and on the side of the German administration.

Turks were delayed in learning German, establishing proper relations with Germans, creating their own educational and cultural institutions, training qualified personnel, and, in short, viewing themselves as a component of German society.

Turkey was delayed in recognizing the problems of families in Germany, attending to their issues, and viewing them as a community with its own economy and culture, rather than merely as a hidden source of finance.

Germany, on the other hand, was delayed—and is still delaying—in understanding that the incoming workers are human beings first and foremost, that they have a distinct culture and faith, that they can have a mindset different from its own, and that this difference is an opportunity for itself. It is now trying to implement belated policies aimed at integrating Turks, whom it initially isolated itself and made live in ghettos in certain areas of its cities with no foresight for their integration into German society. Naturally, these delays have very different complications.

The belatedness of Germans regarding industry, capitalism, and the Enlightenment is famous. This belatedness repeats itself today in its efforts to cope with the problem of cultural encounter, which is a new situation for it. The French, British, Spanish, Dutch, and even Austrians encountered different cultures—especially Muslims—much earlier due to colonialism and occupation activities, developing different policies to cope with these cultures. Since Germany has no history of colonialism, it is encountering a Muslim population perhaps for the first time, facing its problems in this manner for the first time. The manner of encountering the Muslim population, the absence of such a colonial relationship, and the delay in this encounter actually provide Germany with a major advantage.

Just as Germany knew how to turn its delays in other areas into an advantage over time, it can turn this into an advantage as well. It could serve as an opportunity to set a high standard of multiculturalism and democratic performance—a matter of competition among the world's advanced countries—and create a model. But for this, of course, it must be sufficiently sensitive to the hermeneutics of this culture and read the sensitivities of this population well enough.