Türksan

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Türksan was the first Turkish workers' society in Germany . It was founded in Cologne in 1965 and by the spring of 1966 had over 400 members. To become a partner, a deposit of 1,000 marks had to be made. In the fall of 1966, Türksan had around 2,200 members.

description

With the money paid in by the Turkish migrant workers, economic and industrial projects should be created in the Turkish homeland. The envisaged goal was to guarantee good reintegration conditions for Turkish employees in their home country and to secure a material and professional future in Turkey. Since the investment projects tended to coincide with the objectives of the Turkish state economic planning, the Turkish government was initially quite inclined not to refuse its support. This became clear at the beginning of 1967, when the workers' societies were promised special funding in view of the recession in the Federal Republic of Germany, which also benefited the placement of migrants on the Turkish labor market in the long term. Türksan was one of the few companies that could point to success in this regard. The initial capital of one million dollars raised by the company could be increased to three million dollars, in which the Turkish government played a decisive role. The money was used to build a wallpaper factory in Izmir, western Turkey, which was to become the new job for many workers who had returned from abroad. However, there were contradicting information on this, as Der Spiegel explained in an article dated November 29, 1971.

The company with a share capital of 10 million TR increased by 1978 to 7000 members, mainly in the Federal Republic of Germany. Türksan now consisted of "Türksan I - Construction", "Türksan II - Paper Mill" and "Türksan III - Tourism", which also included a charter flight company.

effect

Many other workers' societies, such as Türkyap, Türksal and Birsan, were created based on the Türksan model, but they rarely or never achieved their goal of contributing to the reintegration of workers. For many paying migrant workers, this meant the end of their hopes for return.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Karin Hunn: "We'll be back next year ..." The history of the Turkish "guest workers" in the Federal Republic, Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2005, p. 167, ISBN 3-89244-945-7 .
  2. ↑ a b We had to flee Germany In: Der Spiegel 28/1984 of July 9, 1984.