turkISh emIgrAtION ANd ItS I mplICAtIONS 101
some also went to Australia and, later, in larger numbers, to the Arab countries
of both North Africa and the Persian Gulf. Finally, and more recently, they
went to the new countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The evolution of this movement was impressive. Starting with the
outf low of a few Turkish migrants in late 1961, there were, by 2010, when
the population of Turkey itself was some 73 million, more than 2.5 million
Turkish citizens in Europe, around 100,000 Turkish workers in the Arab
countries, 60,000 settlers in Australia, and over 75,000 workers in the CIS
countries (see Table 3.1). There were also more than 0.25 million Turkish
migrants in Canada and the United States. Thus, at any one time during
these years, some 6 per cent of the Turkish population was abroad. And
when we consider that 30-40 per cent of the early emigrants returned
permanently to Turkey, it would appear that a sizeable minority of the
present Turkish population has had direct experience of emigration, and an
even larger proportion has had – through the emigration of a close relative
or friend – an indirect experience.
There is no doubt that the potential inf luence of this movement on Turkey
is more than a function of numbers; it is also a function of contacts. From
the beginning, Turkish emigrants have appeared to keep in touch with
family and friends in the homeland. Many of them have visited Turkey from
time to time on holiday, to attend weddings and funerals, or to visit sick
relatives. They have sent remittances, bought homes and land and made
investments. Some of them have returned for good. At the very least, one
could expect this combination of massive emigration and the maintenance
of a high level of contact with the homeland to be an important factor of
change in Turkey’s economic and social life. Naturally, return migration
and remittances were highly central to this change.
There has been a great deal of research on the various aspects of Turkish
emigration, but relatively little is known about its consequences for the
country. This chapter provides a broad overview of the literature on some of
the consequences of international migration for Turkey. The focus therefore
is diverse – highlighting similarities and differences within economic and
social spheres, and emphasising mixed research f indings, given the fact that
what is found for one area is often counterbalanced by an opposite f ind-
ing in another area. As an exploratory background, the following section
provides a brief history of Turkish migration to Europe since the early 1960s.
The third section analyses the main characteristics of the consequences of
emigration for the country. The fourth section of the chapter refers to the
position of Turkish emigrants in the receiving countries of Europe, touching
upon the general question of the integration of Turkish immigrants there.