turkISh emIgrAtION ANd ItS I mplICAtIONS 127
changes associated with such experiences are naturally observed in marked
differences in income, status, culture, race or religion between the migrants
and those in the receiving area.
3.4 The position of Turkish emigrants in Europe
The guest-worker schemes of the 1960s in Europe had initially aimed at
temporary labour migration from Turkey to the continent; however, as
migration theory tells us, temporary migration could easily be transformed
into permanent settlement, which is what happened in the case of the ‘Euro-
Turks’, who live in many countries in Europe (Kaya & Kentel 2005). This
transformation from temporary migration to permanent settlement raised
the question of whether the migratory phenomenon from Turkey to Europe
has been a success or a failure (Toktaş 2012). The prevailing view in Europe
is that the majority of Turkish immigrants have failed to integrate into their
host communities. This is evaluated as a factor that has exacerbated anti-
immigrant feelings in a number of European countries and fuels concerns
about further immigration. At the same time, it has also been recognised
that many Turkish nationals have actually integrated well. For instance, over
1 million Turkish immigrants in Europe have become citizens of their host
countries, thousands have become entrepreneurs who provide considerable
numbers of new jobs in the countries where they reside, and some have
even joined the ranks of elected politicians at the local, national and EU
levels. Nevertheless, there are still complaints about an important section
of the Turkish immigrant community not integrating well into their host
societies. Among the complaints are the high levels of unemployment, the
poor educational performance of the children of migrants, alienation from
the larger society, the poor social and economic status of women, forced
marriages and honour killings – often attributed to Muslim religious beliefs.
Manço (n.d.), for instance, states that Turkish immigrants in Europe differ
from other Muslim immigrant groups, primarily from North Africa and
from the Balkans, in: ‘[their initial arrival being] a later phenomenon; rural
origins; geographical concentration, family-based structure; preservation
of the native language; lack of economic qualif ications; and the creation
of community organizations’. According to Manço (n.d.), the structural
factors facilitating the development of strong community ties among the
Turkish immigrant group are economic exclusion, cultural marginality
(which is asserted notably by the persistence of ethnic family traditions,
such as the code of honour and f inding a spouse from one’s parents’ village),