Turks in Denmark

Turks in Denmark, also referred to as Turkish Danes or Danish Turks (Danish: Tyrkere i Danmark; Turkish: Danimarka Türkleri) refers to ethnic Turkish people living in Denmark. They currently form the second largest ethnic group in the country, after the ethnic Danish people.[2] The majority of Danish Turks descend from the Republic of Turkey; however there has also been significant Turkish migration from other post-Ottoman countries including ethnic Turkish communities which have come to Denmark from the Balkans (e.g. from Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Romania), the island of Cyprus, and more recently Iraq and Syria.

Turks in Denmark
Total population
Regions with significant populations
Aarhus, Copenhagen, Høje-Taastrup, Ishøj
Languages
Religion
Predominantly Islam
(mostly Sunni and some Alevis)
Minority irreligious

History

At the end of the 1950s Denmark required a high labour demand which triggered labour immigration mainly from Turkey and Yugoslavia; consequently, alongside the Turkish migrants from Turkey, there was also a substantial number of Balkan Turks (e.g. Romanian Turks, Bosnian Turks etc) who arrived in Denmark.[3] More recently, Iraqi Turks and Syrian Turks have also migrated to Denmark since the European migrant crisis.

Demographics

As of October 2019, Statistics Denmark recorded 63.975 people with origins from Turkey living in Denmark.[4] However, this is not a true reflect of the total number of Danish Turks living in the country because there are also Danish Turkish communities which originate from other post-Ottoman countries, especially from the Balkans and more recently refugees from Iraq and Syria. Moreover, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation had already estimated the Danish population of Turkish origin to be 70,000 in 2008.[5]

Culture

Language
See also: Languages of Denmark

Within the home environment the mother tongue is most dominant and children are expected to speak Turkish. However, Danish is spoken outside the home creating a bilingual identity.[6]

Religion
See also: Religion in Denmark and Islam in Denmark

The majority of Turks regard themselves as Muslims. They worship their religion mainly within their own Turkish community and are subdivided mainly by political or religious differences.[7] The Diyanet supports mosque associations in Denmark and controls the majority of the religious organisations used by the community. The "Danish Turkish Islamic Foundation" (Danish: Dansk Tyrkisk Islamisk Stiftelse) is part of the Diyanet and is the largest Muslim organisation in Denmark.[8] The Diyanet’s major competing Islamic networks are the Millî Görüş as well as the Alevi association.[8]

In 2008 a report published by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation estimated that the Danish Turks formed 70,000 out of a total of 200,000 Muslims in the country. Hence, one-third of the country's Muslims were of Turkish origin.[1]

Notable people
Oğuz Han Aynaoğlu
Ayfer Baykal
Emre Mor
Tülin Şahin

See also

References
  1. Larsen, Nick Aagaard (2008), Tyrkisk afstand fra Islamisk Trossamfund, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 1 November 2020, Ud af cirka 200.000 muslimer i Danmark har 70.000 tyrkiske rødder, og de udgør dermed langt den største muslimske indvandrergruppe.
  2. Liebig 2007, 32.
  3. Liebig 2007, 13.
  4. Statistikbanken. "Danmarks Statistik". Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  5. Larsen, Nick Aagaard (2008), Tyrkisk afstand fra Islamisk Trossamfund, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, retrieved 1 November 2020, Ud af cirka 200.000 muslimer i Danmark har 70.000 tyrkiske rødder, og de udgør dermed langt den største muslimske indvandrergruppe.
  6. Jørgensen 2002, 242.
  7. Svanberg 1999, 389.
  8. Nielsen, Akgonul & Alibasic 2009, 100.

Bibliography
  • Jørgensen, J.N (2002), "Children's Acquisition of Code-switching for Power-Wielding", in Auer, Peter (ed.), Code-Switching in Conversation: Language, Interaction and Identity, Routledge, ISBN 0-203-01788-9
  • Liebig, Thomas (2007), The Labour Market Integration of Immigrants in Denmark (PDF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  • Nielsen, Jørgen S.; Akgonul, Samim; Alibasic, Ahmet (2009), Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, BRILL, ISBN 90-04-17505-9
  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2008). International Migration Outlook: SOPEMI 2008. OECD Publishing. ISBN 92-64-04565-1..
  • Svanberg, Ingvar (1999), "The Nordic Countries", in Westerlund, David; Svanberg, Ingvar (eds.), Islam outside the Arab world, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0-312-22691-8
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