Bünyamin Keskin/World Bulletin

Over 2 million people with Turkish background are living in Germany today. Since the first immigrant workers in the 1960´s they developed themselves and hence, they are no longer considered as guests or immigrants. By that time the Politicians were too late in realising that Germany had become an immigration country. The fact that most of the Turks are Muslims and the speech of the former German President Wulff on the 3rd of October 2010 where he said that “Islam is also a part of Germany” caused a public discourse in Germany on whether if Islam is really a part of it or not. But at this point it is pointless to discuss this reality.

To analyze the role of the Turks in Germany´s next general election we have to look at how they are organized institutionally and their behaviour during and the election.

Turkish NGOs woke up

This year we recognized the big struggle of the Turkish NGOs. Different NGOs organized panels and visits in Turkish communities to inform them about the electoral system in Germany. Also several ‘political participation’ seminars were held in mosques, cafes, sport clubs and other facilities.

The biggest migrant organizations worked together and appealed to the Turkish community to attend the election this year. Also some representatives of Turkish-religious organizations recommended their members to participate in politics and especially the elections.

But how were and will be the electoral behaviour of the Turks? To answer this question we have to clarify which Turks are able to vote in Germany. This is very simple; those who are German nationals naturally have the right to vote. But the general opinion about politics and the trust in political parties has to be portrayed in a different picture.

First migrant research initiative gives us the answers

The first opinion research initiative which specialized on migrants in Germany is “endaX”(www.endax.de). In an online survey on migrants between 18 and 63 years with Turkish background with strict criteria to attend “endaX” evaluated that 90.2 % of eligible voters will attend the general election in 2013. In 2009 only 75.1 % of the interviewed have attended the general elections.

The results also show us, that many of the Turkish voters are still for the SPD (Social democrats) and the Greens. 42.9 % (In 2009 50.2%) will vote for SPD and 21.6% (in 2009 31.0%) for the Greens. Another important point is that in comparisons to the general elections of 2009, in which 11.4% of the interviewed have voted for CDU (Christian Democratic Union), this year 20.3 % will vote for them.

We can see that SPD and the Greens have decreased their votes. The BIG Party (Alliance for Innovation and Justice), a party which is founded by Turkish migrants will only gain 6.9% of the votes in this election. Is the decreasing of votes for SPD and the Greens a sign of loss of trust? And why the BIG Party, a party of Turks, does not gain so much prestige? To answer these questions we have do a very detailed analyze and research. But the most important question now is: What will happen this year in the general election in Germany? Will the Turks participate in the election as expected and change the future of this country? We will see.