Chancellor Merz praises Turkish community’s contributions to Germany

Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday praised the Turkish community’s contributions to Germany, helping build the country’s industrial base in the 1960s and continuing to enrich its economy, technology and culture.

“Turkish guest workers helped build the industrial foundation of our country,” Merz said of those who arrived soon after the October 30, 1961, labor recruitment agreement. “They helped build the foundations of our nation. They created the infrastructure of the prosperity in which we live today.”

He spoke at a ceremony in Berlin marking the 65th anniversary of the agreement with Türkiye, which brought hundreds of thousands of Turkish workers to West Germany during the postwar economic boom. Most had planned to return home after a few years, but roughly half stayed, brought their families and gradually became part of German society.

Their children and grandchildren have since produced high-profile success stories, said Merz. Among those, he named German-Turkish footballer Ilkay Gundogan, film director Fatih Akin and BioNTech founders Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, whose work in oncology and immunology has drawn international attention. He also cited authors Aras Oren and Deniz Utlu.

“These are just the widely known figures — the particularly spectacular success stories,” he said. “Yet there are thousands of others. They can be found in every federal state, in every sector of our society, across all political parties, within labor unions, and in employers’ associations.”

The chancellor described integration as an ongoing task for any modern pluralistic society, one that requires mutual effort in workplaces, schools and sports clubs. He said people who come to Germany should respect its democratic rules. In return, they should be able to expect equal opportunity and a sense of belonging regardless of their migration background.

Merz acknowledged that many in the first, second and even third generations have experienced being treated as strangers despite their efforts. He pointed to racist violence that marked the 65-year history, including the 1990s attacks in Moelln and Solingen — murders carried out over years by the neo-Nazi terror group NSU in which eight people of Turkish origin were among the victims — and the 2020 attack in Hanau.

“Fear of the foreign is poison for every free society,” Merz warned. He said those fears appear to be increasing and are once again being ideologically charged and exploited. On the term “Remigration,” which is used by politicians of the anti-immigrant AfD, the chancellor said it represents “an attack on the modern Germany that we have built together over the past 65 years.”

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the first generation of Turkish guest workers as well as their children and grandchildren

The agreement brought 867,000 Turkish guest workers to West Germany by the time recruitment ended in 1973; about 500,000 later returned to Türkiye. Many others arrived afterward through family reunification.

Germany is now home to a Turkish community of roughly 3 million, largely descended from those early arrivals.