Turkish-Dutch
Encyclopedia
Turks in the Netherlands (occasionally Dutch Turks or Turkish-Dutch) are citizens of the Netherlands
who are of Turkish
ancestry. As of 2010, Turks form the largest ethnic minority in the Netherlands
.
Until 1961, more people left the Netherlands
than moved into the country. It began to face a labour shortage by the mid 1950s, which became more serious during the early 1960s, as the country experienced economic growth rates compareable to the rest of Europe. At the same time, Turkey
had a problem of unemployment
, low GNP
levels and high population rates
. So the import of labour solved problems on both ends. The first Turkish immigrants arrived in the Netherlands in the beginning of the 1960s at a time were the Dutch economy was wrestling with a shortage of workers. On 19 August 1964, the Dutch government entered into a 'recruitment agreement' with Turkey. Thereafter, the number of Turkish workers in the Netherlands increased rapidly.
There were two distinct periods of recruitment. During the first period, which lasted until 1966, a large number of Turks came to the Netherlands through unofficial channels. An economic recession
began in 1966. Some of the labour migrants were forced to return to Turkey. In 1968, the economy picked up again and a new recruitment period, which was to last until 1974, commenced. The peak of Turkish labour migration occurred during these years. The Turks surpassed other nationalities in numbers and came to represent the Dutch image of guest workers.
Most Turks came to the Netherlands in order to work and save enough money to build a house, expand the family business or start their own business in Turkey. Thus, the decision to emigrate was made primarily for economic reasons. Most of the labour migrants did not come from the lowest strata of the Turkish population, nor did emigration begin in the least developed parts of Turkey, but in the big cities such as Istanbul
, Ankara
and Izmir
. Only later did less urbanised areas become involved with the immigration process. Ultimately, the largest numbers of Turks did come from these areas. Most Turks in the Netherlands come from villages and provincial cities in the middle of the country and on the coast of the Black Sea
.
. Turkish immigration, however, continued practically unabatedly through the process of family reunification
. Even more Turkish men began to bring their families to the Netherlands in the 1970s. In the first half of the 1980s, the Turkish net immigration began to decreased- but in 1985, it unexpectedly began to rise again. Most of them had a bride or bridegroom come over from their native land. This marriage immigration still continues, though net immigration has again decreased in the 1990s.
, Rotterdam
, The Hague
and Utrecht
as well as the regions of Twente
and Limburg
, where there was a growing demand for industrial labour. However, not only the capital cities but also medium-sized cities, and even small villages attracted the Turks.
The Turkish population is mostly concentrated in large cities in the west of the country some 36% of Turks live in the Randstad
region. The second most common settlements are in the south, in the Limburg
region, in Eindhoven and Tilburg
, and in the east, in Twente
region, in Enschede
, Deventer
, and Almelo
.
According to Statistics Netherlands
, as of 2009, the total population of the Netherlands is 16,485,787. The Turkish population is 378,330, thus 2.29% of the total population. This consisted of some 196,000 first generation Turks and 183,000 second generation Turks whose parents originated from Turkey. The total number of third generation Turks is not recorded in Statistics Netherlands
. However, Turkish language is spoken by 700,000 people in the Netherlands
.
whose origins go back to the Ottoman Empire
. In the Netherlands, there are also Bulgarian Turks
and Western Thracian Turks
. These populations, which have different nationalities, share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious origins as Turkish nationals.
live in the Netherlands. The majority, of about 80%, are ethnic Turks from Bulgaria
; most of them have come from the south-eastern Bulgarian district of Kurdzhali and are the fastest-growing group of immigrants in the Netherlands.
can be found in the Netherlands, especially in the Randstad
region. They are registered as Greeks due to their Greek nationality. After Germany
, the Netherlands is the most popular destination for Turkish immigrants from Western Thrace
.
and has only limited Dutch
competence. Thus, for immigrant children, their early language input is Turkish, but the Dutch language quickly enters their lives via playmates and day-care centres. By age six, these children are often bilinguals with their Turkish and Dutch language systems.
Adolescents have developed a code-switching
mode which is reserved for in-group use. With older members of the Turkish community and with strangers, Turkish is used, and if Dutch speakers enter the scene, a switch to Dutch is made. The young bilinguals therefore speak normal Turkish with their elders, and a kind of Dutch-Turkish with each other.
to be the centre of their culture. Thus, the majority of Dutch Turks adheres to Sunni Islam
, although there is also a considerable Alevi
fragment. According to the latest figures issued by Statistics Netherlands
, approximately 5% of the Dutch population (850,000 persons), were followers of Islam in 2006. Furthermore, 87% of Turks were followers of Islam. The Turkish community accounted for almost 40% of the Muslim population; thus are the largest ethnic group in the Netherlands adhering to Islam.
Turks are considered to be the best organised ethnic group with its activities and organisations. The Turkish Islamic Cultural Federation (TICF) which was founded in 1979, had 78 member associations by the early 1980s, and continued to grow ro reach 140 by the end of the 1990s. It works closely with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which provides the TICF with the imams which it employs in its member mosques.
In April 2006, the Turkish Mevlana Mosque had been voted the most attractive building in Rotterdam in a public survey organsied by the City Information Centre. It had beaten the Erasmus Bridge due to the mosques 'symbol of warmth and hospitality'.
, GroenLinks, and SP
) over parties on the right (CDA
, VVD and SGP
). In the past, migrants were not as eager to vote, however they are now aware that they can become a decisive factor in the Dutch political system. There has been some criticisms that certain parties (such as the Social Democrats) are becoming the parties of migrants because of the votes they receive from migrants and the increase in the number of elected Turkish candidates. During the Dutch general election (2002)
, there were 14 candidates of Turkish origin spread out over six party lists which encouraged 55% of Turks to vote, which was a much higher turnout than any other ethnic minorities.
was one of the earliest, writing short stories about Turkish immigrants. Sadik Yemni
is well known for his Turkish-Dutch detective stories. Sevtap Baycili
is a more intellectual novelist, who is not limited to migrant themes.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
who are of Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
ancestry. As of 2010, Turks form the largest ethnic minority in the Netherlands
Demographics of the Netherlands
This article is about the demographic of the Netherlands, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Population size:...
.
History
| Number of Turkish-Dutch according to Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and is... |
|||||||
| Year | Population | Year | Population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 271,514 | 2004 | 351,648 | ||||
| 1997 | 279,708 | 2005 | 358,846 | ||||
| 1998 | 289,777 | 2006 | 364,333 | ||||
| 1999 | 299,662 | 2007 | 368,600 | ||||
| 2000 | 308,890 | 2008 | 372,714 | ||||
| 2001 | 319,600 | 2009 | 378,330 | ||||
| 2002 | 330,709 | 2010 | 383,957 | ||||
| 2003 | 341,400 | 2011 | 388,967 | ||||
Until 1961, more people left the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
than moved into the country. It began to face a labour shortage by the mid 1950s, which became more serious during the early 1960s, as the country experienced economic growth rates compareable to the rest of Europe. At the same time, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
had a problem of unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, low GNP
GNP
Gross National Product is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by labor and property supplied by the residents of a country...
levels and high population rates
Population growth
Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....
. So the import of labour solved problems on both ends. The first Turkish immigrants arrived in the Netherlands in the beginning of the 1960s at a time were the Dutch economy was wrestling with a shortage of workers. On 19 August 1964, the Dutch government entered into a 'recruitment agreement' with Turkey. Thereafter, the number of Turkish workers in the Netherlands increased rapidly.
There were two distinct periods of recruitment. During the first period, which lasted until 1966, a large number of Turks came to the Netherlands through unofficial channels. An economic recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
began in 1966. Some of the labour migrants were forced to return to Turkey. In 1968, the economy picked up again and a new recruitment period, which was to last until 1974, commenced. The peak of Turkish labour migration occurred during these years. The Turks surpassed other nationalities in numbers and came to represent the Dutch image of guest workers.
Most Turks came to the Netherlands in order to work and save enough money to build a house, expand the family business or start their own business in Turkey. Thus, the decision to emigrate was made primarily for economic reasons. Most of the labour migrants did not come from the lowest strata of the Turkish population, nor did emigration begin in the least developed parts of Turkey, but in the big cities such as Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
and Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
. Only later did less urbanised areas become involved with the immigration process. Ultimately, the largest numbers of Turks did come from these areas. Most Turks in the Netherlands come from villages and provincial cities in the middle of the country and on the coast of the Black Sea
Black Sea Region
The Black Sea Region is one of Turkey's seven census-defined geographical regions . It is bordered by the Marmara Region to the west, the Central Anatolia Region to the south, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the southeast, the Republic of Georgia to the northeast, and the Black Sea to the north.-...
.
Family reunification
At the end of 1973, the recruitment was nearly brought to a halt, and the Turks were no longer admitted to the Netherlands as labour migrantsForeign worker
A foreign worker is a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen. The term migrant worker as discussed in the migrant worker page is used in a particular UN resolution as a synonym for "foreign worker"...
. Turkish immigration, however, continued practically unabatedly through the process of family reunification
Family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well....
. Even more Turkish men began to bring their families to the Netherlands in the 1970s. In the first half of the 1980s, the Turkish net immigration began to decreased- but in 1985, it unexpectedly began to rise again. Most of them had a bride or bridegroom come over from their native land. This marriage immigration still continues, though net immigration has again decreased in the 1990s.
Community building
Turks often worked overtime and led abstemious lives in order to save as much money as possible. This circumstance contributed to the fact that their integration into Dutch society was, to a large extent, limited to the work area. However, Turks became a more visible community in the 1970-80s when more Dutch and Turkish families became neighbours. With the arrival of families, infrastructure grew; in addition to boarding houses and coffee shops, the Turks also opened bakeries, groceries, butchers shops, travel agencies, videos stores, driving schools, prayer rooms and mosques.Demographics
Turkish immigrants first began to settle in big cities in the Netherlands such as AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
as well as the regions of Twente
Twente
Twente is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel...
and Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
, where there was a growing demand for industrial labour. However, not only the capital cities but also medium-sized cities, and even small villages attracted the Turks.
The Turkish population is mostly concentrated in large cities in the west of the country some 36% of Turks live in the Randstad
Randstad
Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
region. The second most common settlements are in the south, in the Limburg
Limburg (Netherlands)
Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
region, in Eindhoven and Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
, and in the east, in Twente
Twente
Twente is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel...
region, in Enschede
Enschede
Enschede , also known as Eanske in the local dialect of Twents, is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands in the province of Overijssel and in the Twente region...
, Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...
, and Almelo
Almelo
Almelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie and Bornerbroek....
.
According to Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and is...
, as of 2009, the total population of the Netherlands is 16,485,787. The Turkish population is 378,330, thus 2.29% of the total population. This consisted of some 196,000 first generation Turks and 183,000 second generation Turks whose parents originated from Turkey. The total number of third generation Turks is not recorded in Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and is...
. However, Turkish language is spoken by 700,000 people in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
| Turks in the four largest cities (Randstad Randstad Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague... ). |
|||||||
| Regions | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population... |
37,333 | 37,943 | 38,337 | 38,565 | 38,913 | 39,654 | |
| Rotterdam Rotterdam Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre... |
44,861 | 45,254 | 45,415 | - | - | - | |
| The Hague The Hague The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam... |
31,052 | 32,184 | - | - | - | - | |
| Utrecht Utrecht (city) Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features... |
12,148 | 12,412 | 12,651 | 12,918 | 13,040 | - | |
Other Turkish communities
The official estimates of the Turkish immigrant population in the Netherlands does not include Turkish minoritiesTurkish minorities
The Turkish minorities refers to ethnic Turks who live in nowadays independent, but once conqured by the Ottoman Empire states, the ancestors of these people settled there for controlling and conquering these teritorries...
whose origins go back to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. In the Netherlands, there are also Bulgarian Turks
Turks in Bulgaria
The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...
and Western Thracian Turks
Turks of Western Thrace
Turks of Western Thrace are ethnic Turks who live in Western Thrace, in the north-eastern part of Greece.According to the Greek census of 1991, there were approximately 50,000 Turks in Western Thrace, out of the approximately 98,000 strong Muslim minority of Greece...
. These populations, which have different nationalities, share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious origins as Turkish nationals.
Bulgarian Turks
10,000-30,000 people from BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
live in the Netherlands. The majority, of about 80%, are ethnic Turks from Bulgaria
Turks in Bulgaria
The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...
; most of them have come from the south-eastern Bulgarian district of Kurdzhali and are the fastest-growing group of immigrants in the Netherlands.
Western Thrace Turks
A minority of Western Thrace TurksTurks of Western Thrace
Turks of Western Thrace are ethnic Turks who live in Western Thrace, in the north-eastern part of Greece.According to the Greek census of 1991, there were approximately 50,000 Turks in Western Thrace, out of the approximately 98,000 strong Muslim minority of Greece...
can be found in the Netherlands, especially in the Randstad
Randstad
Image:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Clickable schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
region. They are registered as Greeks due to their Greek nationality. After Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Netherlands is the most popular destination for Turkish immigrants from Western Thrace
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...
.
Language
The first generation of Turkish immigrants is predominantly Turkish-speakingTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and has only limited Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
competence. Thus, for immigrant children, their early language input is Turkish, but the Dutch language quickly enters their lives via playmates and day-care centres. By age six, these children are often bilinguals with their Turkish and Dutch language systems.
Adolescents have developed a code-switching
Code-switching
In linguistics, code-switching is the concurrent use of more than one language, or language variety, in conversation. Multilinguals—people who speak more than one language—sometimes use elements of multiple languages in conversing with each other...
mode which is reserved for in-group use. With older members of the Turkish community and with strangers, Turkish is used, and if Dutch speakers enter the scene, a switch to Dutch is made. The young bilinguals therefore speak normal Turkish with their elders, and a kind of Dutch-Turkish with each other.
Religion
When family reunification resulted in the establishment of Turkish communities, the preservation of Turkish culture became a more serious matter. Most Turks consider IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to be the centre of their culture. Thus, the majority of Dutch Turks adheres to Sunni Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, although there is also a considerable Alevi
Alevi
The Alevi are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people....
fragment. According to the latest figures issued by Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands
Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, often abbreviated to CBS. It is a department of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and is...
, approximately 5% of the Dutch population (850,000 persons), were followers of Islam in 2006. Furthermore, 87% of Turks were followers of Islam. The Turkish community accounted for almost 40% of the Muslim population; thus are the largest ethnic group in the Netherlands adhering to Islam.
Turks are considered to be the best organised ethnic group with its activities and organisations. The Turkish Islamic Cultural Federation (TICF) which was founded in 1979, had 78 member associations by the early 1980s, and continued to grow ro reach 140 by the end of the 1990s. It works closely with the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which provides the TICF with the imams which it employs in its member mosques.
In April 2006, the Turkish Mevlana Mosque had been voted the most attractive building in Rotterdam in a public survey organsied by the City Information Centre. It had beaten the Erasmus Bridge due to the mosques 'symbol of warmth and hospitality'.
Politics
Turks generally support parties on the left (PvdA, D66Democrats 66
Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...
, GroenLinks, and SP
Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...
) over parties on the right (CDA
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...
, VVD and SGP
Reformed Political Party
The Reformed Political Party is an orthodox Protestant Dutch political party. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinist. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and for its entire existence has been in opposition...
). In the past, migrants were not as eager to vote, however they are now aware that they can become a decisive factor in the Dutch political system. There has been some criticisms that certain parties (such as the Social Democrats) are becoming the parties of migrants because of the votes they receive from migrants and the increase in the number of elected Turkish candidates. During the Dutch general election (2002)
Dutch general election, 2002
The General Election to the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands was held in the Netherlands on May 15, 2002....
, there were 14 candidates of Turkish origin spread out over six party lists which encouraged 55% of Turks to vote, which was a much higher turnout than any other ethnic minorities.
Literature
A number of Turkish-Dutch writers have come to prominence. Halil GürHalil Gür
Halil Gür is a Dutch author of Turkish extraction, and is important as one of the first Turkish immigrants to write about the Netherlands. His short stories focus mainly on the problems of migrant experiences, particularly in the context of the Dutch gastarbeider program...
was one of the earliest, writing short stories about Turkish immigrants. Sadik Yemni
Sadik Yemni
Sadık Yemni is a Dutch novelist of Turkish extraction. He is known particularly for such "multi-cultural whodunits" as De roos van Amsterdam .- Bibliography :Published in Dutch:...
is well known for his Turkish-Dutch detective stories. Sevtap Baycili
Sevtap Baycili
Sevtap Baycılı is a Dutch writer of Turkish extraction. Born in Istanbul in 1968, she studied philosophy in Turkey, earning the nickname "Miss Wittgenstein"...
is a more intellectual novelist, who is not limited to migrant themes.
See also
- List of Dutch Turks
- Netherlands–Turkey relationsNetherlands–Turkey relationsDutch-Turkish relations refer to interstate relations between the Netherlands and Turkey. The diplomatic relations widely encompass and span four centuries, beginning in 1612...
- FC TürkiyemsporFC TürkiyemsporFC Türkiyemspor was a Dutch football club based in Amsterdam which was active from 1987 to 2009 when the club went bankrupt....
- Turks in EuropeTurks in EuropeThe Turks in Europe refers to Turkish people living in Europe. According to a 2011 academic estimate, there is approximately 9 million Turks living in Europe, excluding those who live in Turkey....
- TurkeyeTurkeyeTurkeye is a village of Sluis, a municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western part of the Netherlands. Even though the inhabitants of the village are Dutch, the name Turkeye means Turkiye . It derives from relations between the Ottoman Turkey and the Netherlands. Its...