Dank der großartigen Unterstützung der Stiftung Mercator ist unser Buch „60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde“ als ein nicht-kommerzielles Projekt zum Jubiläum des Deutsch-Türkischen-Anwerbeabkommens erschienen. Die Einnahmen der deutschen Ausgabe gehen an Correctiv.Org und fördern den unabhängigen Journalismus. Die Einnahmen der türkischen Ausgabe gehen an die Aydın Dogan Stiftung und werden als Stipendium an Mädchen und junge Frauen in der Türkei vergeben.

Klicke hier zum bestellen:
„60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde“ (Deutsche Ausgabe)
„Almanya nasıl Vatan oldu“ (Türkçe baskı)

Ich danke unserem Bundespräsidenten Frank-Walter Steinmeier vom Herzen für das großartige Vorwort und allen 27 wunderbaren Menschen, die mit ihren Biographien und Geschichten unser Buch erst möglich gemacht haben. Ich danke ebenso der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, für die Aufnahme unseres Buchs in der BpB-Schriftenreihe.  

Link zum bestellen:
„60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde“ (Deutsche Ausgabe)
„Almanya nasıl Vatan oldu“ (Türkçe baskı)
Ausgabe bei der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung

The post Anwerbeabkommen: „60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde“ first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.

Das Erste, an das sich Ugur Sahin in Deutschland erinnert, ist die Kälte. Als er 1969, gerade acht Jahre alt, mit seiner Mutter das Flugzeug am Kölner Flughafen verlässt, bläst ihm der eisige Winterwind ins Gesicht. Sahin stammt aus Iskenderun nahe der syrischen Grenze, wo es kaum Kälte gibt.

Sein Vater war einige Jahre zuvor nach Deutschland gekommen, Mutter und er folgten. Vater arbeitete am Fließband im Schichtdienst, erzählt Ugur Sahin. Seine Kindheit war der 1. FC Köln: Toni Schumacher, Pierre Littbarski, Konopka, Flohe, die ganz große Zeit.

Als Sahin sein Medizin-Studium begann, erhielt er ein Amulett von seiner Mutter, ein Nazar Boncugu, dass er noch heute trägt. Es halte böse Blicke fern, sagte die Mutter. Vielleicht hat es ihm auch sonst Glück gebracht, vielleicht aber war Glück auch gar nicht nötig: Am 9. November 2020, dem deutschen Schicksalstag, veröffentlicht Sahins Unternehmen Biontech eine Pressemitteilung: Der von ihm in Mainz entwickelte Impfstoff gegen das Coronavirus ist zu 90 Prozent wirksam.

Es sind solche Geschichten, die in „60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde“ erzählt werden. Der ehemalige Berliner Bundestagsabgeordnete Özcan Mutlu (Grüne), selbst Gastarbeiterkind, hat das Buch herausgegeben. Es versammelt zum sechzigjährigen Jubiläum des Anwerbekommen zwischen Deutschland und der Türkei 27 Aufsteigergeschichten vor allem von Gastarbeiterkindern. Ab September wird das Buch nun von der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung verlegt.

Auf knapp 250 Seiten liest man sehr persönliche, anekdotenreiche Texte über das Aufwachsen in einem erstmal fremden Land. Man liest von Ankunftsschmerz, glücklicher Kindheit, dem Aufwachsen zwischen Vorurteil und Aufbruchswillen. Mutlu gibt so einen tiefen Einblick in die türkische Community.

Heute leben drei Millionen Menschen in Deutschland, die ursprünglich aus der Türkei stammen. 50 Prozent besitzen die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Fast eine Million leben in einem Eigenheim. 103 000 Unternehmen wurden von Menschen aus der Türkei gegründet – unter anderem: Biontech.

Ja, es sind die Erfolgsgeschichten, die Mutlus Buch versammelt. Neben Sahin ist da seine Frau Özlem Türeci, die mit ihm Biontech gegründet hat. Der NSU-Opferanwalt Mehmet Daimagüler erzählt, wie er sich als „Türkenjunge“ von der Hauptschule ins Gymnasium kämpfen musste.

Hannovers Oberbürgermeister Belit Onay schreibt, wie ihn der Anschlag von Solingen politisierte. 1993 zündeten Nazis dort ein Reihenhaus an, fünf Menschen starben. „Ich habe zum ersten Mal begriffen, dass es in Deutschland sehr wohl eine Rolle spielt, wo man herkommt, welche Hautfarbe man hat“, schreibt Onay.

Kohl weigerte sich noch, zur Trauerfeier der Solingen-Opfer zu erscheinen

Der türkische Botschafter riet damals, sich Feuerlöscher zu besorgen, die Türen fest zu verschließen, Kanzler Helmut Kohl weigerte sich zur Trauerfeier zu gehen. Seine Eltern überlegten, in die Türkei zurückzukehren. Da war Onay 12 Jahre alt. 2019 wird er Bürgermeister.

Wir riefen Arbeitskräfte, und es kamen Menschen. Das hat der Schriftsteller Max Frisch einmal geschrieben. Die kurzweiligen Porträts im Buch zeigen auch, dass viele Gastarbeiterkinder diese Menschlichkeit schon früh erfuhren, sie in der Nachbarschaft herzlich aufgenommen worden, Freunde fanden.

Aber da war auch immer wieder der Hass, angefeuert von „Bild“ und rechten Scharfmachern. „Gastarbeiter kommt von Gast. Ein Gast, der sich nicht so beträgt, gehört vor die Tür gesetzt“, schrieb das Boulevardblatt noch Ende der Sechzigerjahre über einen Streik von Gastarbeitern.

Mutlus Buch zeigt, wie viel mehr Integration ist als Anpassung an Verhältnisse, wie sehr die „neuen Deutschen“ das Land heute prägen, als Bürgermeister, Wissenschaftlerin oder Meisterkoch. Nein, nicht alle hatten so viel Glück, Klugheit, Willen. Auch ihre Geschichten, die der „Namenlosen“, wie Mutlu sie nennt, wären Stoff für ein Buch. Aber um sich in die Geschichte einzuschreiben, braucht es Sieger. So ist die Realität nun mal.

Özcan Mutlu (Hrsg.): 60 Jahre – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde. Correctiv Verlag, Essen 2022. 250 Seiten, 20 €

Auch über die Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung erhältlich; Bonn 2022. 250 Seiten, 4,50 €

Die türkische Fassung ist bei Dogan Kitap Istanbul erschienen. Der Titel der türkischen Ausgabe lautet „ALMANYA NASIL VATAN OLDU“, Istanbul 2022. 278 Seiten

The post Das Wirtschaftswunder: Kinder von türkischen Gastarbeitern erzählen über Deutschland first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.

31 Mayis´da Istanbul Raffels Hotelinde gerceklesen „60. Yıl Avrupa Marka Ödülleri“ töreninde Almanya´da bilim, spor, sanat ve ticaret gibi cesitli alanlarda üstün basarilar elde eden 60 basarili „Gurbetci Cocuklari“ ödüllendirildiler.

Ankara ile Almanya’da dönemin başkenti Bonn arasında imzalanan İşgücü Antlaşması’nın 60’ıncı yılı nedeniyle düzenlenen 60. Yıl Avrupa Marka Ödülleri töreninde çok sayıda gurbetçi Türk vatandaşına ödül verildi. Sunuculuğunu Çağla Şikel ve Cem Davran’ın yapmış olduğu 60. Yıl Avrupa Marka Ödülleri töreninde, gurbette yatırımları ile iş dünyasından çok sayıda iş insanına, bilimsel çalışmaları ve buluşları ile bilim insanlarına, kırdıkları rekorlar ve attıkları gollerle sporculara, sanat yaşamlarında ülkemizin adını gururlandıran eserleri ile sanatçılara verildi. Ödül töreninde Rafet El Roman, Cartel, Güler Duman ve diğer sanatçılar şarkılarını seslendirdi.

„Almanya Nasil Vatan Oldu“ kitabimizin basarisindan ötürür böyle bir anlamli gecede bu güzel ödülü almaktan gurur duydum. Bu ödülü 60 yil boyunca yilmadan ve pes etmeden mücadele edip, tüm zorluklara ragmen olaganüstü emekleriyle Almanya´yi bize yeni Vatan yapan büyüklerimiz, Dedelerimiz, Nenelerimiz, Annelerimiz ve Babalarimiza adiyorum

The post 60 YIL – Avrupa Marka Ödülleri Töreni first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.

Eski Yeşiller Partisi Milletvekili Özcan Mutlu’nun anlaşmanın 60’ıncı yılı için hazırladığı ‘Almanya Nasıl Vatan Oldu?’ kitabı tam da bu konuyu ele alıyor. Türkçeye çevrilen kitapta BioNTech aşısının mucitleri Prof. Dr. Uğur Şahin ve Dr. Özlem Türeci’nin de aralarında olduğu, göçmen toplumundan farklı meslek alanlarında başarılara imza atmış 27 ismin hikâyesi anlatılıyor.

“Biz işgücü çağırdık ama insanlar geldi.” Max Frisch’in bu cümlesi 60 yıldır Almanya’da yaşananların tam bir itirafı.1961’de Almanya ve Türkiye arasında imzalanan sözleşmeden sonra ellerinde bir bavul, tek bir kelime bile Almanca bilmeden Münih Garı’na inen vatandaşlarımızın niyeti bir süre çalışıp para biriktirmek ve evlerine dönmekti. Onları ülkelerinin kalkınmasına destek olsunlar diye çağıranlar da aynı fikirdeydi, kısa bir süre sonra döneceklerini düşünüyorlardı ve gelenleri ‘misafir işçi’ diye adlandırdılar. Ama iki taraf için de evdeki hesap çarşıya uymadı. Gelenler kısa sürede ülkelerine dönmedi, dilini ve kültürünü bilmedikleri Almanya’da kalıp ailelerini yanlarına aldılar. Çağıranlar da onların geçici değil kalıcı olduklarını anlayamadı, uyum sağlamalarını kolaylaştıracak doğru politikalar üretemedi.

Türkiye-Almanya İşgücü Anlaşması’nın üzerinden 60 yıl ve üç kuşak geçti. Bir gün Türkiye’ye dönecekleri düşüncesi ile bavulları hazır bekleyen ve ‘bavul çocukları’ diye adlandırılan misafir işçilerin çocukları sürekli dışlanıp ötekileştirilse de Almanya’yı yeni vatan haline getirmeyi başardı. Özcan Mutlu ‘Almanya Nasıl Vatan Oldu?’da bu bavul çocuklarının başarı öykülerini anlatıyor. Özcan Mutlu da bir bavul çocuğu. Onunki de bir başarı hikâyesi. Dedesi Almanya’ya misafir işçi olarak gelenlerin ilklerinden olmuş. Sonra ailesini yanına almış. Özcan Mutlu bu dedenin torunu olarak Almanya’da büyümüş, yetişmiş ve geleceğini orada belirlemiş. Biyografisi şöyle: “Özcan Mutlu, 1968’de Kelkit’te doğdu. 1990’da Alman vatandaşı oldu ve Yeşiller partisinden siyasete atıldı. Berlin’de, 1992-99 arasında Kreuzberg Belediye Meclisi’nde, 1999-2013 arasında milletvekili olarak eyalet meclisinde yer aldı. 2013-17 arasında 18. dönem federal milletvekilliği yaptı. 2019’da Türk-Alman Dostluk Federasyonu Kybele Ödülü’nü kazanan Mutlu, 2020’de Almanya UNESCO komisyonu üyesi seçildi.”

Özcan Mutlu anne-babaları 60 yıl önce misafir işçi olarak Almanya’ya giden 27 Türkiyeli’nin başarı öykülerini anlatıyor bize. Kitap Almanya Cumhurbaşkanı Frank-Walter Steinmeier’in önsözü ile başlıyor. Steinmeier “Onların her biri ülkemizin İkinci Dünya Savaşı’ndan sonraki ekonomik kalkınmasına ve refahına katkıda bulundu. Onların her biri toplumumuzu zenginleştirdi ve bugün de hâlâ zenginleştirmeye devam ediyor. Onların her biri Almanya’nın bir parçası! Onların her biri bize ait” diyor önsözde. Mutlu, BioNTech aşısının mucitleri Uğur Şahin ve Özlem Türeci ile başlamış kitaba ama yazarlar ve sanatçılar yerine farklı meslek alanlarında büyük başarılara imza atmış kişilere yönelmiş. Eyalet bakanı, büyükşehir belediye başkanı, yapay kalp uzmanı, Michelin yıldızlı şef, televizyonda moderatör, avukat, köşe yazarı ve yorumcu, psikiyatri profesörü, radyo kurucusu, sendikacı, atlet, dünya ikincisi karateci, Avrupa Parlamentosu milletvekili, bakanlık müsteşarı, rektör yardımcısı, diplomat, üst düzey yönetici, semt yöneticisi, talk show sunucusu, yatırımcı, caz şarkıcısı…

Mutlu, bavul çocuklarının Almanya’daki hemen her meslekte söz sahibi olduğunu gösteriyor. Her isim çok çalışarak bulundukları konuma gelmiş. Alman akranlarından hep daha dezavantajlı olmuşlar. Önlerine engeller çıkarılmış, Üniversite yolu tıkanmış, ayrımcılığa uğramışlar. Ama engeller onları yıldırmamış, ayrımcılıkları ya görmezden gelmişler ya da kararlılıkla aşmayı bilmişler. Onlara destek olan Alman komşuları, öğretmenleri de olmuş.

Kitabın kapağında üç çocuk var. Bu başarı hikâyeleri o üç çocuktan birine, ders kitapları taşıyana ait. Diğer ikisinin simgelediği çocuklar nasıl hayat öyküleri yazdılar, merak etmemek elde değil. Kuşkusuz onların öyküleri de başka kitapların konusu. ‘Almanya Nasıl Vatan Oldu?’ ince düşünülmüş bir kitap. Başarı öykülerini biraz da gururlanarak, merakla ve o meslekler hakkında yeni bilgiler edinmenin keyfiyle okudum.

Hürriyet Haftasonu haber icin tikla

Hürriyet Edebiyat haberi icin tikla

Kitap siparisi icin tikla

The post „Almanya Nasil Vatan Oldu“ first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.

„Biz basarili oldukca irkcilik arti!“

Safak Salda ile Göc Sohbetleri II

„Kelkit´de olsaydim Milletvekili olamazdim“

The post Safak Salda ile Göc Sohbetleri first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.

BY ERIK KIRSCHBAUM

DEC. 28, 2021 3 AM PT

BERLIN —

Anchoring Germany’s popular “Tagesschau” program with confidence and charisma, Damla Hekimoglu brings the good news, the bad news and the ugly news to millions of television viewers every day. That makes her smiling face, beamed by public broadcaster ARD into living rooms and onto smartphones, among the country’s most recognized. Her position at the heart of German society also makes Hekimoglu, 33, one of the many scientists, athletes, actors, diplomats, physicians and politicians of Turkish descent who are helping to upend decades-old prejudices and discrimination here against the country’s Gastarbeiter — the “guest workers” who came to do the hard and dirty work that others shunned — and their offspring.

“You can definitely feel a sense of growing pride in everything that Germans with Turkish roots are accomplishing,” Hekimoglu said in an interview. “The times are changing, and that’s a good thing. It’s great to see more role models and a greater sense of appreciation, even though there’s still a lot of racism around.”

Born in the small rural town of Kalterherberg in far western Germany to a dentist father and homemaker mother, Hekimoglu said she and her family were living “the German dream” of a better life in their adopted country.

The upswelling of ethnic Turkish pride comes 60 years after the agreement between Turkey and what was then West Germany that opened the gates for millions of Gastarbeiter. To mark the anniversary, a new book, “Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde” — “How Germany Became Home” — has hit bookstores, a moving compilation of the success stories of 27 residents of Turkish origin.

One story in particular, of triumph in the time of coronavirus, has stood out: that of Ugur Sahin, an immigrant who, with his German-born wife of Turkish descent, Oezlem Tuereci, was the mastermind behind the world’s first widely approved COVID-19 vaccine, through their startup company, BioNTech.

Other recent milestones have also sparked celebration and optimism. Earlier this month, the country’s first Cabinet member with Turkish roots, Cem Oezdemir, was sworn into office as agriculture minister. In 2008, Oezdemir became the first German of Turkish descent to head a major political party when he was elected co-leader of the Greens.

“The last 60 years have been a success story of Turks in Germany that’s been ignored for far too long,” said Oezcan Mutlu, 53, a former member of Parliament and the publisher of “How Germany Became Home.” “It’s time to see that immigrants enrich this country and make important contributions.

“The discrimination, racism and ostracism are still there too. But it’s good to see times are changing.”

For decades, the prevailing attitude among Germans was one of bigotry toward the millions of Turkish immigrants who kept their factories running, fueled their postwar “economic miracle” and took on the low-paying menial jobs no one else wanted. Set out during a labor shortage after the Berlin Wall went up, the welcome mat for Gastarbeiter was rolled up in the early 1970s when the global oil crisis paralyzed Europe’s powerhouse economy. Many of the Turkish workers returned to their homeland, as Germany had banked on, but plenty of others stayed, despite being discriminated against in jobs, schools and housing for decades to come. Residents of Turkish heritage now number about 3 million to 4 million, making up the largest and most vibrant ethnic minority group in this land of 82 million people.

A succession of conservative governments essentially shunned the newcomers in their midst and declined to grant Turks citizenship. That exacerbated the sense of an underclass in one of the world’s wealthiest countries — and indirectly encouraged racists and far-right extremists in Germany, some of whom mounted deadly attacks.

In 1993, five young Turkish women and girls were killed in an arson fire in the town of Solingen, near Duesseldorf. Between 2000 and 2007, eight Turkish shopkeepers and small-business operators were shot to death execution-style across Germany by a small band of neo-Nazis whose crimes stumped police only because they assumed the killers were other Turkish immigrants. And early last year, five Turks were among the nine foreigners gunned down in a racially motivated rampage outside cafes popular with Turks in the western city of Hanau by a right-wing extremist who later killed himself.

Sahin, the founder of BioNTech, recalls facing hostility and discrimination but also vowing that it wouldn’t stop him from achieving his goals. Those came to spectacular fruition in the COVID-19 shot the company developed with Pfizer, a vaccine sometimes referred to here as the “Miracle of Mainz,” which sprang out of research originally meant to improve cancer treatment.

“Everyone faces discrimination at some point because of where they’re from, or the color of their skin, how they look, what they think or because they were born with a golden spoon in their mouth,” Sahin, 56, says in the newly published book. “But I didn’t pay attention to that. I focused on the things I was doing.”

The relationship between Germans and their neighbors of Turkish descent was long strained by misunderstandings and restrictive citizenship rules that, until 2000, made it almost impossible for Turks to become German nationals and full members of German society, even if they were born in the country.

Encouraged by archconservative anti-immigration politicians, some Germans harbored ugly stereotypes of Turks as integration-resistant Muslims who refused to eat pork or drink alcohol. They accused Turkish residents of walling themselves off in separate communities and sponging off the country’s generous welfare system.

Public perceptions were also colored by the horrific 2005 killing of a 23-year-old Turkish woman by her brother at a Berlin bus stop after she rejected a forced marriage to a cousin and stopped wearing a head scarf. Prejudice was not uncommon on the street, in stores, on the shop floor and in the classroom.

“I was the only one with Turkish origins at my high school in a rural Bavarian town,” said Serap Ocak, who was born in Illertissen, about 80 miles west of Munich. “That took some getting used to for the teachers and classmates. Most teachers meant well, but they also let me know that they didn’t think I belonged there. When I finished school, the principal couldn’t resist making a flippant comment: ‘We finally have a Turk who graduated.’”

Ocak, 45, is now a rising star in Germany’s Foreign Ministry and has served as a diplomat in New York. She said she felt the sting of discrimination growing up in Germany, and although the situation has improved greatly, it’s still not perfect.

“A lot has changed since I started at the Foreign Ministry 10 years ago,” Ocak said. “There wasn’t anyone in a senior position with Turkish origins back then. There is far more diversity now. But not everyone there is happy about that, as a younger colleague made it clear to me.”

The same goes for Oezden Terli, who has become one of Germany’s most prominent meteorologists, in part for his sometimes controversial reports on the ZDF network’s prime-time newscasts linking climate change to current weather-related problems.

“I’ve always experienced slight gusts of discrimination my whole life,” Terli said. “But when I started doing the weather on ZDF it turned into a hurricane. It was too much for some people that a Turk was on public television warning about the dangers of climate change.

“Suddenly I was caught up in the crossfire of agitators. It bugged me at first, but then I just started to ignore it. I try not to let it get to me.”

Besides Terli and Hekimoglu, the “Tagesschau” anchorwoman, other TV news personalities with Turkish origins include Mitri Sirin of ZDF and Pinar Atalay of RTL News.

Germans have also been thrilled by the exploits of national soccer team stars Mezut Oezil and Ilkay Guendogan, flocked to movies starring Sibel Kekilli and directed by Fatih Akin, watched TV programs hosted by Nazan Eckes and read books by Emine Sevgi Oezdamar.

Long in coming, today’s greater acceptance is stirring hope of an even more inclusive Germany, one that belatedly recognizes how its people of Turkish descent, who were once disparaged for overstaying their welcome, have been enriching the nation all along with their diversity, talent, diligence and creativity.

“Being an immigrant is something totally normal for us,” said BioNTech’s Sahin, who moved to Cologne as a 4-year-old. “What’s important is that everyone contributes. It’s so easy — just create a big team where everyone who wants to join in can.”

Original Article: Germans of Turkish descent finally find greater acceptance – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Link to the Book: 60 Jahre Deutsch-Türkisches Anwerbeabkommen – Wie Deutschland zur Heimat wurde (60-jahre-anwerbeabkommen.de)

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Henry Chu in London contributed to this report.

The post „No longer ‘guests’: Germans of Turkish descent are finding greater acceptance at last“ L.A. Times first appeared on Özcan Mutlu.