VZCZCXYZ0019
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #1672/01 1671445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161445Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3743
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0578
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0126
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS BERLIN 001672 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/AGS AND DRL/IL, LABOR FOR ILAB - BRUMFIELD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECIN ECON ELAB SOCI TU GM
SUBJECT: STRUCTURAL LIMITS TO INTEGRATING TURKISH 
IMMIGRANTS INTO THE GERMAN ECONOMY 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  Nearly 50 years since the first wave of Trkish 
immigrants arrived in Germany, economic inegration remains 
one of the Turkish immigrant comunity's greatest challenges. 
 Prospects for greter economic integration are dimmed by 
high unemloyment rates, low education levels, and lack of 
German language proficiency among Turkish immigrant.  Two 
other factors limiting further integratio are the 
maintenance of a Muslim "parallel sociey" within the Turkish 
immigrant community and th lack of opportunities for upward 
mobility within the German job market.  However, some recent 
developments suggest inroads are being made to improve 
integration of the Turkish minority into the German economy. 
First, a growing entrepreneurial class of small and 
medium-sized businesses is emerging within the Turkish 
community.  Second, the German public and private sectors 
have begun to place greater emphasis on integration 
assistance and on fostering entrepreneurial opportunities for 
Turks.  These recent efforts offer some hope that, with time, 
further economic integration of the Turkish minority in 
Germany will be possible.  END SUMMARY. 
 
TURKISH ROLE IN THE GERMAN ECONOMY 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Germany is host to approximately 2.6 million Turks 
(including Turkish-born immigrants and ethnic Turks born in 
Germany), which constitute 3% of the entire German population 
and 70% of Turks in the EU.  Turkish immigration into Germany 
began in the 1960s, when Germany was in need of temporary, 
unskilled laborers.  The majority of Turkish immigrants 
decided to stay in Germany and their families soon followed. 
Today, almost 700,000 of the Turks living in Germany were 
also born here.  Though the inflow of migrants from Turkey 
has been on the decline, the German Federal Statistics Bureau 
estimates that some 50,000 Turkish immigrants arrive in 
Germany annually.  The largest clusters of Turkish immigrants 
reside in Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg, and the states of 
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hessen and North Rhein Westphalia. 
 
¶3.  The economic status of Turkish immigrants in Germany has 
remained largely unchanged since the 1960s - even among 
second and third generation Turks.  Turkish immigrants 
continue to be over-represented in unskilled and blue-collar 
jobs, such as janitorial work, construction and in the 
garment industry.  Since the 1960s, however, mechanization 
and outsourcing have reduced the need for many low-skill jobs 
in Germany.  As a result, Turkish immigrants face more dire 
economic circumstances than before, with higher rates of 
unemployment and more households requiring welfare 
assistance. 
 
¶4.  The unemployment rate among Turkish immigrants is roughly 
three times the German national average (33% versus 11% in 
Germany overall), and predominantly affects young or 
unskilled Turks.  All legal immigrants in Germany enjoy 
social benefits provided by the government.  Some local 
governments say high unemployment among the Turkish 
population causes them to allocate as much as 70% of their 
budgets to welfare payments. 
 
CHALLENGES TO ECONOMIC INTEGRATION: TURKISH FAILURES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶5.  Turkish socio-economic self-segregation has helped cause 
the emergence of a Muslim "parallel society" within Germany, 
in which immigrant Turks have limited and discouraged 
interaction with non-Turks.  According to the Turkish Embassy 
in Berlin, this phenomenon has exacerbated the socio-economic 
division between Germans and Turks and is a major obstacle 
preventing further integration of Turkish immigrants into the 
German economy.  In particular, the perpetuation of this 
"parallel society" contributes to the low educational levels 
of achievement by young Turks in Germany and the 
unwillingness of many Turkish immigrants to gain 
professional-level German language proficiency. 
 
¶6.  Although young Turks' educational performance in Germany 
is slowly improving, poor test scores and high dropout rates 
make upward mobility difficult.  Immigration experts allege 
that the poor performance among Turkish youth in school is 
caused by the presence of the "parallel society", in which 
less value is placed on achievement within the German 
education system.  Fewer than 10% of 18-25 year olds of 
Turkish descent in Germany are enrolled in higher education. 
Fewer Turkish immigrants successfully complete vocational 
school than non-foreigners and, according to a recent report 
 
by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the number of Turks in 
German apprenticeship programs has dropped nearly 52% since 
¶1995. 
 
¶7.  Lack of German language competence among Turkish 
immigrants is a reflection of their limited economic 
integration in Germany and the pervasiveness of the "parallel 
society" phenomenon, in which the Turkish language is 
preferred and used substantially more than German.  Without 
German, however, Turks have difficulty finding jobs.  As a 
recent study of Germany's education system explains, lack of 
German language ability is a "decisive obstacle" in an 
immigrant's educational and future career.  According to data 
from the Turkish Embassy, 37% of all Turkish immigrants in 
Germany lack "good" German speaking skills; in Berlin, which 
is host to the largest Turkish immigrant community in the EU, 
48% have less than "good" German speaking skills. 
 
CHALLENGES TO ECONOMIC INTEGRATION: GERMAN FAILURES 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶8. Exacerbating young Turkish immigrants' poor educational 
performance is Germany's rigid education system, which 
"tracks" students on a set career path on the basis of their 
performance in their first four years in primary school.  In 
2004-5, approximately 60% of Turkish immigrants in Germany 
were "tracked" into a trade or vocational school. 
 
¶9.  The Turkish Embassy claims German employers discriminate 
against Turkish immigrants.  Embassy officials say employers 
prefer to hire immigrants from Eastern Europe. 
Discrimination is more pervasive in eastern Germany, they 
say, where there are fewer foreigners and xenophobia is more 
blatant.  The German government, too, has historically made 
integration difficult for Turkish immigrants.  Prior to 2000, 
Turkish immigrants without German ancestry could not gain 
German citizenship, regardless of whether they had been born 
in Germany or lived in Germany for many years.  Despite 
reforms to German citizenship laws after 2000, some states, 
such as Baden-Wuerttemberg, continue to impose tougher 
restrictions on applicants from Islamic countries, including 
Turkey. 
 
PROSPECTS FOR INTEGRATION 
------------------------- 
 
¶10. Despite the many obstacles to economic integration, there 
are reasons for optimism, given developments in both the 
Turkish community and government policy.  The high rate of 
unemployment, the rigidity of Germany's educational system, 
and the growing demand of the Turkish immigrant population 
for goods and services have caused a growing percentage of 
Turkish immigrants to become entrepreneurs -- specializing in 
family-run, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) such as 
kiosks and delicatessens, which have had cross-over appeal 
among both Turkish and non-Turkish consumers.  Recently, the 
weekly newsmagazine "Der Spiegel" reported Turkish SMEs have 
accounted for the creation of more than 300,000 jobs in 
Germany.  Turkish Embassy statistics indicate that as of 
2004, 61,300 Turkish entrepreneurs exist in Germany, 
contributing $9.1 billion in investments with an annual 
turnover of $36 billion. 
 
¶11.  A variety of German and Turkish businesses and 
organizations are working to tap into the Turkish community's 
growing entrepreneurial spirit.  For example, several German 
banks, including Deutsche Bank, are beginning to employ 
Turkish banking representatives to improve their appeal to 
potential customers in the Turkish community.  The state 
government of North Rhein Westphalia has begun a program 
called ReTra (Regionale Transferstellen), which acts as an 
advisory body to local immigrants interested in creating 
their own enterprises.  Furthermore, Turkish business 
associations and Turkish participation in trade unions is 
flourishing. 
 
¶12.  Beginning in 2005, Germany's Federal Ministry of the 
Interior began requiring all new immigrants to take a 
six-month, 630-hour "integration course", consisting of 
beginning and intermediate German language instruction and an 
orientation course to familiarize participants with Germany's 
history, culture and legal system.  This $270 million, 
federally-funded program, is intended to help provide 
immigrants with the opportunity to "take part in all aspects 
of social, political and economic life" in Germany.  This is 
the first time the federal government has funded and executed 
 
 
 
a program geared toward integrating immigrants into the 
country; an initial review of the success of the program is 
due by 1 July 2007. 
TIMKEN