102 Ahmet İçduygu
The f inal section outlines what has been learned from previous studies with
regard to the general implications of Turkish emigration on the country.
3.2 A historical account of Turkish emigration and its
implications
One of the ways in which to analyse the consequences of historical and
contemporary patterns of emigration from Turkey is to examine the so-
called ‘migration cycle’ – i.e., how the emigration process and its impact
on Turkish emigrants, their families and Turkey, and sending communities
in the country, evolve over time. This level of analysis, well-elaborated in
recent OECD studies (Katseli, Lucas & Xenogiani 2006; Xenogiani 2006),
draws attention to the changing nature of the impact of emigration on
the likelihood of further emigration f lows and economic transformations
(growth, productivity). In consideration of the need to understand these
changes and their effects, it is obviously crucial to look at the historical
development of the dynamics and mechanisms of emigration from Turkey.
3.2.1 Labour migration to Europe
Emigration from Turkey remained limited until the early 1960s, except for
the mass outf low of its non-Muslim population since the early 1920s, which
was part of the nation-building process in the country. Turkey began to send
workers abroad only after the negotiation of an off icial agreement with the
Federal Republic of Germany in 1961 and, by 1970, it had become one of the
largest suppliers of workers among the various labour-importing countries
(İçduygu 1991; Paine 1974). Prior to the agreement with Germany, the Western
European labour market had already started to draw a number of workers
from the labour pool in Turkey. However, the size of this frontier movement
was small, sporadic and relatively unknown, because workers often migrated
illegally due to the diff iculty of obtaining passports, visas, and residence and
work permits (Abadan-Unat 1976; Akgündüz 2008; Lieberman & Gitmez 1979).
During the early 1960s, the post-war reconstruction of Europe was still
in process, and the economies of many Western European countries were
in need of labour. However, within the European migratory regimes of
the time, structurally organised emigration from Turkey was not possible
without the negotiation of an off icial agreement between governments. In
Turkey, succeeding the making of the 1961 constitution, the f irst Five-Year
Development Plan (1962-1967) delineated the ‘export of surplus labour