Türkiye's fear of the extreme right gaining power in Germany
Eviralnews,, an important political-social development that happened in Germany; It has attracted the attention of Turkish diaspora circles.
This is the first time since the Second World War that the far right has won the first place in the state parliament elections in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony. As a result, the Turkish diaspora, as the most populous group of immigrants living in Germany, is afraid of the power of the extreme right movement and is worried about the emergence of social and economic challenges and tensions. Because more than two million Turkish citizens have been living in Germany for a long time and always transfer a significant part of their income and capital to Turkey and have played an important role in Turkey's economic development.
The huge population of Turkish immigrant workers in Germany, in addition to steel industries, have taken over an important part of service jobs, housing and road construction, and if the social atmosphere of this European country is against immigrants and Muslims; Hundreds of small and large Turkish companies will suffer, and subsequently, the Turkish government will also suffer, and at the same time, the environment for tens of thousands of Turkish students to study in Germany will be unfavorable.
In the elections of the Thuringian State Assembly, the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first with 30.8% of the votes, and due to the high population of this state; The apparent superiority of the extreme right movement can mean the possibility of imposing serious restrictions on immigrants. That is in a situation where the German government has recently expelled a group of Afghan immigrants and the right-wing has raised the level of social sensitivity towards Middle Eastern immigrants to a high level and is openly fueling xenophobia and Islamophobia.
1 million and 700 thousand voters supporting the extreme right movement in Thuringia, that is, a huge population whose intellectual and cultural point of commonality; Opposing immigrants and the necessity of excluding immigrants from the field of work and services in Germany. Compared to the 2019 elections, AfD has managed to increase its votes by 7.4 points this time, and this is the issue that worries Turkish immigrants. The Turkish community in Germany considered the increase in people's support for the AfD as a dangerous and worrying development and announced that some immigrants are planning to leave the country.
Of course, it is not only the Turkish diaspora community that is worried about the growth of the far-right political movement. The current German government is also worried about this situation, and Olaf Schulz, the German chancellor and leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), assessed the results of the elections as painful and called for the unity of the democratic parties. Schultz stated that the AfD is harming the country, weakening the economy and dividing society. He believes that all democratic parties should take responsibility for creating stable governments that do not include the extreme right.
Analytical news site T24 of Turkey stated in a report that the rise of the extreme right caused the concern that working conditions for immigrants will become difficult, and as a result, negative effects on the German economy will be inevitable. Also, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) has stated that economic growth targets may become difficult or even impossible in states where the AfD has a strong presence. Because this radical party strongly opposes the employment of immigrants, and companies and qualified labor may leave these areas.
The German Pharmaceutical Industry Association expressed similar concerns, stating that the economic development provided by labor and foreign investment is under threat. The issue that worries the Turks is that the far-right party AfD was founded in 2013 in response to the financial crisis of the Eurozone, and during the refugee crisis in 2015, it established its position as an anti-immigrant party, and the polls The latter shows that the AfD's policies are popular with voters and among young people. While 52 percent of those who voted for the AfD in Thuringia said they were convinced by the party's policies, there is also said to be strong support among younger voters. This means that the occurrence of violence and physical conflict between the extremists and the immigrant community, especially the Turks, can become a security and social concern.
Haji Mehmet Boiraz, a foreign policy researcher at the Politics, Economics and Social Research Foundation (SETA), recently wrote a book called “Turkish-German relations and Turks in Germany after 60 years” with the participation of 16 researchers and academics.
This researcher and academic figure in Turkey says: “Due to the spread of racist thinking in Germany, the role of Turks and their problems are ignored. Even the direct studies of the Germans themselves clearly show that the prejudice and negative view towards the Turks is more than other ethnicities and nationalities living in Germany. Far-right groups in Germany target Turks and Muslims, because the biggest ethnic and religious groups they face are Turks and Muslims.”
Currently, Germany is Turkey's most important trade partner, and the volume of trade between them reached 50 billion dollars in 2023. Of course, the trade balance is in Germany's favor because it sells 30 billion dollars of goods and raw materials to Turkey, and on the other hand, Turkey's exports to Germany are at the level of 20 billion dollars. But the fact is that the community of Turkish immigrants living in Germany with hundreds of entrepreneurs and producers and thousands of workers and skilled workers and technicians, in promoting economic relations between Turkey and Germany; has played an important role. As a result, they are considered to be Turkey's economic soldiers in German soil, and if the conditions for their life and economic activities become difficult, such a thing can have a negative effect on bilateral relations.
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