Turks in Germany: a story of success and contribution

[Proto-Shaman]

Excellent. I wonder how fast we can overtake China and the US as the world’s largest economies with our new Kebab/Cell phone shop/used car dealer based economy?

Tschüss und Auf Nimmerwiedersehen Möge Odin der Tyrker und Etzel dir gegen das neo-Imperium Romanum beistehen...

[Böri]

Germany was lucky and intelligent to have selected Turks as their main immigrants population. It was one of the weakest and most poor times of Turks in the past 1000 years when Turks started to go to Germany, end of 19th century and most of 20th century was like the 13th century chaos after Seljuks destruction by Mongolians and the anarchy which followed. Turks not a people to go abroad and work for others. Turks, the elite nation, the beautiful ummah experienced worst times. Germans benefitted lots from their hard work, culture, mentality, morality values. They sucked Turks a lot. Now it's time the ethnic ideological correct Turks return, I have also some distant relatives there. Crytek Yerli brothers from my home province Giresun. Send Commie Kurds and others in Turkey with high birthrates to replace them. And a member believed here we claim Europeanness, no we don't.

[Proto-Shaman]

Excellent. I wonder how fast we can overtake China and the US as the world’s largest economies with our new Kebab/Cell phone shop/used car dealer based economy?

[Böri]

Turkish small business in Germany about more than kebab shops



Sherelle Jacobs in Cologne

More than 50 years have passed since the first Turkish guest workers touched down in Germany, after the two countries signed an unprecedented labour agreement. Their experiences have become the stuff of folklore - scores of young Turkish men would disembark from special trains, known as the "kara tren" or "black trains" in reference to the fears and uncertainties felt by those aboard, which snaked their way arduously from Ankara and Istanbul. They would then take up modest posts as unskilled labourers in Germany's coal mines and steel factories, becoming a vital (if undervalued) cog in the country's post-war economic machine.

Fast forward to the 21st century and a drastic transformation has occurred. The Turkish population in Germany is now 2.5m-strong, by far the largest Turkish population in Western Europe. And, crucially, as the Turkish population has exploded, so too has Turkish entrepreneurship. Between 1985 and 2000, the number of Turkish self-employed multiplied by 170%, and more than a decade later, over 80,000 Turkish businesses are now in operation across the country.

Intriguingly, stereotypes of Turkish entrepreneurship consisting of kebab chains and greengrocers, although not obsolete, fail to do justice to the increasingly varied array of sectors that Turkish entrepreneurs have broken into. "[The first] generation were only involved in the 'ethno-market' for Turkish products - restaurants, retail, travel agencies and tailors," says Ahmet Güler, a representative from the European Confederation of Turkish businesses (BTEU). "Second- and third-generation entrepreneurs are now found to be the same as your average German entrepreneurs."

He adds that a higher level of education and vocational training has become noticeable in new German-Turkish start-ups, and while most still operate on a micro-level employing fewer than three people, one-tenth now have a workforce of more than 10.

Indeed, German-Turkish entrepreneurs have moved into a number of cutting-edge new areas that are a far cry from catering or retail. In fact, 20% of Turkish businesses in Germany are now active within the service industry. One particular trend is increased activity in the ICT and technology sectors. Take Exitcom, a leading company in the field of recycling electrical and electronic equipment. Since the company was launched in 1999 by Murat Ilgar, a Turkish entrepreneur living in Germany, it has expanded at a rapid pace, securing new profits and investments and recently expanding operations to Turkey. Another high-profile success story is the video game company Crytek, which was founded by three Turkish brothers, Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli in Coburg, Germany in 1999. Having been involved in the development of a number of popular games, the company now has around 600 employees and subsidiaries in Ukraine, Budapest and South Korea.

Risk-takers

The reasons for the successes of Turkish entrepreneurs in Germany is multi-layered and complex, according to experts. Some commentators draw on cultural factors: "To be a self-employed 'saint' is a status symbol to aim for in Turkish culture," says Güler from the BTEU. "The Turkish entrepreneurs are brave and willing to take risks."

The cultural proclivity of Turkish communities to help fund the businesses of those close to them has also provided many Turkish start-ups with vital finance. "They have capital support from family and friends," Güler explains.

Some observers also note that the lack of conventional employment opportunities for Turks in Germany has acted as a powerful force propelling Turkish people towards starting up their own businesses; unemployment rates amongst the Turkish community have consistently been the highest amongst all the country's minority groups.

Interestingly, the dramatic economic rebirth of Turkey itself has opened up lucrative new opportunities for Turkish entrepreneurs. The exciting growth of a wide range of sectors in Turkey, including textiles, automotive and ICT, has been noted by German-Turkish businessmen; stories of such businessmen finding new commercial ventures and contacts when visiting Turkey on holiday are increasingly common.

These entrepreneurs become involved not only in traditional operations of importing Turkish products such as textiles to Germany, but also the inverse - many Turkish businesses are seeking to profit from the demand by Turks for western products and services by exporting German goods to their market. A reflection of this is the recent proliferation in Turkish-owned consultancy firms in Germany; Turkish entrepreneurs have spotted the demand from German companies for help breaking into the tricky Turkish market and have set up agencies to offer such services.

Limitations

Experts note that German-Turkish entrepreneurs see investment in the Turkish market as carrying less risk because of their knowledge of the language and local culture. Some businessmen also assert that German Turks have the best of both worlds because it is sometimes an advantage to be from the West; Turkish consumers are said to exhibit a strong preference for products and services associated with the West.

Nonetheless, deeper research suggests that such advantages may have their limitations. It has been suggested that being perceived as western can constrain German Turks in their business activities at times: "Turkish citizens in Germany are often labelled as Almanyal or Almanc," explains Bettina Schulte in a compelling paper on the topic. "The latter has a rather negative connotation in Turkey, which is rooted in certain behaviour of Turks from abroad when coming back for holidays, mostly labelling those that left Turkey as rather simple farmers from Anatolia in the 1960s that would eventually return."

Schulte also cites differences in German and Turkish business culture and habits as potentially hazardous for German Turks, who can struggle to effectively balance the two. "One of the perceptions is that Turks from abroad are much softer in their interactions and they are not aware of some of the conventions like respecting the elder generations," she explains.

Moreover, Turkish businessmen also still face serious challenges in Germany itself, with many complaining that banks are reluctant to give them loans. On the other side, German businesspeople claim the founders of Turkish start-ups are less likely to seek advice or carry out effective risk analysis in advance of investing in their businesses, a potentially costly strategy. "The Turkish entrepreneurs have to adapt themselves more to the German economy," says Güler.

It may have been more than half a century since their forefathers first touched down on German soil. But today's Turkish-German entrepreneurs display a similar stomach for venturing into the unknown. And it seems they too have some formidable obstacles to clear on their paths to prosperity.

http://www.bne.eu/content/story/turk...re-kebab-shops

[Maximilian]

Even at the USAF base at Ramstein there were multiple Kebab tents and cellphone kiosks setup right in the parking lot at the on-base mall lol.

[Drawing-slim]

Turks are good people. I traveled trough Istambul, my experience was short but combine the Turkish airlines and the stop in Istambul round trip I have to say that's a fair amount of Turks numbers wise to get a feel about certain people, and they're good people. Fair respectable people.

[Prism]

That's a lot of kebab shops.

. In Sweden too.
Donnerstag is Donner kebab day.

[Böri]

The döner shop is caricaturized image, sort of prejudice developed by some Nazi or jobless envious Germans. Also having döner shop is better than being involved in drug, women or organs dealings (similar prejudice against Eastern European and Balkan immigrants there I think).

[Arend]

Ja, ihr Türken seid schon ein tolles Volk. Ich hatte schon mit Amerikaner, Kanadiern, Kroaten, Russen, Vietnamesen, Polen, Koreanern, Argentiniern und Spaniern zu tun, aber keines dieser Völker kann es mit euch aufnehmen. Ein Menschenschlag laut, faul, aggressiv, restlos von sich selber überzeugt und vollkommen beratungsresistent, von einem weltweit einzigartigen Nationalismus und Überlegenheitsgefühl beseelt (Selbst wenn man natürlich lieber in D-A-CH lebt als in der Türkei). Ich werfe mich vor euch in den Staub und verneige mich vor euren großartigen Leistungen hier in Deutschland. Dafür, dass ihr in den Sechziger und Siebziger Jahren endlich Deutschland nach dem Krieg wiederaufgebaut habt und ihr nun durch Milliarden Döner Exporte unser aller Wohlstand erarbeitet, dafür das ihr neben unseren Sozialkassen auch noch unsere Gefängnisse füllt.

Es ist ja bezeichnend was aus diesem Forum geworden ist, wenn es sogar im Deutschen Forum fast nur noch darum geht was für ne dufte Mischpoke Türken doch sind.

[Pennywise]

Ja, ihr Türken seid schon ein tolles Volk. Ich hatte schon mit Amerikaner, Kanadiern, Kroaten, Russen, Vietnamesen, Polen, Koreanern, Argentiniern und Spaniern zu tun, aber keines dieser Völker kann es mit euch aufnehmen. Ein Menschenschlag laut, faul, aggressiv, restlos von sich selber überzeugt und vollkommen beratungsresistent, von einem weltweit einzigartigen Nationalismus und Überlegenheitsgefühl beseelt (Selbst wenn man natürlich lieber in D-A-CH lebt als in der Türkei). Ich werfe mich vor euch in den Staub und verneige mich vor euren großartigen Leistungen hier in Deutschland. Dafür, dass ihr in den Sechziger und Siebziger Jahren endlich Deutschland nach dem Krieg wiederaufgebaut habt und ihr nun durch Milliarden Döner Exporte unser aller Wohlstand erarbeitet, dafür das ihr neben unseren Sozialkassen auch noch unsere Gefängnisse füllt.

Es ist ja bezeichnend was aus diesem Forum geworden ist, wenn es sogar im Deutschen Forum fast nur noch darum geht was für ne dufte Mischpoke Türken doch sind.

why are you writing in german? except few of us, no one german-turkish here.