Turks in Berlin
Turks in Berlin (Turkish: Berlin'deki Türkler) are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Berlin where they form the largest ethnic minority group, and the largest Turkish community outside Turkey. The largest communities can be found in Kreuzberg, Neukölln, and Wedding, with substantial populations in other areas, almost exclusively those of the former West Berlin.[3]
 A Turkish protest in Berlin | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Estimates vary because the official German census does not collect data on ethnicity. German statistics: 176,743 (5.1%)[1] Academic estimates: 2,000,000 (estimate by Professor Clifford Geertz)[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Berlin Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Schöneberg, Gesundbrunnen, Moabit, Hansaviertel | |
| Languages | |
| German · Turkish | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Alevism, irreligious |
Demographics
One of the most influential cultural anthropologist in the United States, Professor Clifford Geertz, has said that there was "two million Turks in Berlin"[2]
Official German statistics do not provide a true reflection on the ethnic Turkish community in Berlin because censuses only collect data on country of birth of one's parents rather than ethnicity. In 2016 there were 97,682 foreign nationals with Turkish citizenship registered as residents in Berlin. Additionally, there were 79,048 German citizens with a Turkish "migration background" (meaning they or their parents had immigrated to Germany after 1955).[4] However, these figures do not take into account the third, fourth, or fifth generation Turkish-Germans who are recorded as "Germans".
As figures on "migration background" do not distinguish one's ethnicity, official statistics on Turkey do not provide details on the number of ethnic Turks (or minorities from Turkey). Furthermore, German statistics also do not include the significant migration waves of ethnic Turkish communities which have come to Berlin from other post-Ottoman modern nation-states, especially from the Balkans (e.g. Bulgarian Turks and Western Thrace Turks), from the island of Cyprus (i.e. Turkish Cypriots from both the Republic of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus), the Levant (especially Iraqi Turks, Lebanese Turks, and Syrian Turks), etc. These ethnic Turkish communities are recorded according to their citizenship, such as "Bulgarian", "Cypriot", "Greek", "Iraqi", "Lebanese" "Macedonian", "Syrian" etc., or German (if they have acquired German citizenship), rather than by their Turkish ethnicity.
| Top 5 Berlin Boroughs with largest population claiming Turkish Descent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Borough | Population | Percentage | |
| 1 | Mitte | 38,245 | 11.4% | |
| 2 | Neukölln | 36,932 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Kreuzberg | 29,225 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Tempelhof-Schöneberg | 22,043 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Reinickendorf | 13,894 | 5.8% | |
Notes and references
Notes:
| ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 98 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 113 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition. |
References:
- http://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/Publikationen/Stat_Berichte/2013/SB_A01-05-00_2012h02_BE.pdf
- Geertz, Clifford (2013), "Introduction to Islam observed (Hebrew Translation, 2007)", Clifford Geertz in Morocco, Routledge, p. 12, ISBN 9781317988175,
But the scale on which they now are forming (50,000 Moroccans in Amsterdam, 100,000 Malians in Paris, 150,000 Bangladeshis in London, two million Turks in Berlin – virtually all arrived there in the last two or three decades)
- Renate Müller (2001). W. Neill; H. Schwedler (eds.). Urban Planning and Cultural Inclusion - Lessons from Belfast and Berlin. Springer. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-230-52406-4.
- "Statistischer Bericht: Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner im Land Berlin am 31. Dezember 2016" [Statistical Report: Residents in the state of Berlin on December 31st 2016] (PDF). Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg (in German). pp. 15–17. Retrieved 4 August 2017.