“21 years in power is more than enough, that’s enough. Erdogan has to go. Unlike many of his compatriots, Taskin Yilmaz has no qualms about saying he voted for Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival, in the crucial elections to be held this Sunday. In front of the gates of the Turkish consulate general in Berlin, the 73-year-old retired Siemens employee sums up in one sentence what he expects from the elections: “Now there is no longer any democracy in Turkey. I think Kiliçdaroglu is the one who will get them.”
Germany has the largest Turkish diaspora with three million people, of whom around one and a half million are eligible to vote. The country is following the election campaign with keen interest, with daily press coverage and prime-time public TV interviews with the opposition leader. Turks form the first minority in Germany, since many emigrated in the 1960s in search of work to what was then a highly industrialized central European business metropolis. The so-called guest workers eventually settled and raised their families in Germany, where the young people are now the third generation.
Queue in front of the Turkish consulate in Berlin this Tuesday, on the last day of voting from abroad. Elena G. Sevillano
Opposition parties have denounced that Erdogan mobilized enormous resources for the election campaign in Germany, including the 900 mosques controlled by the Turkish state. Unlike in 2018, when the Turkish President visited Cologne, this time there were no campaign events on German territory. Even large facilities such as sports stadiums were not made possible. Turks only voted on 17 items, mostly in consulates spread across the country. The turnout is much higher than in previous elections, Ambassador Ahmet Başar Şen told public television, at over 50%.
The voting of the Turks abroad, which ended on Tuesday, is being followed with great interest from Ankara. Although some experts believe their impact is limited, accounting for only 3% of the total, these elections differ from previous ones. For the first time in more than two decades at the helm of the country, Erdogan is not the favourite. The polls indicate that the result will be very close. Every vote counts. And the German-Turks, who have mobilized like never before, know that too. “I don’t watch the news from there, I don’t follow what’s happening too much, but we’ve all settled into my family. “This is very important for the future of the country,” said Mustafa, a 22-year-old student, in front of one of the two giant Turkish flags that adorn the fence in front of the consulate. Many take photos and selfies upon arrival, which they immediately upload to their social networks.
That 3% of voters abroad – 2.5% in Germany – can make a difference this time. But as Jens Bastian, an expert at the Center for Applied Turkish Studies at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), warns, they would have to vote almost unanimously for a single party or candidate, and he doesn’t think that will happen. “Traditionally, the majority of Turks in Germany voted for the AKP. [el partido gobernante]“, he explains in an interview with EL PAÍS. “But this time there could be a split of votes and many people vote for the party but not for Erdogan,” he adds. Both parliamentary and presidential elections will take place on Sunday.
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Yilmaz traveled through the city from his district of Kreuzberg in the east, where the majority of Berliners of Turkish origin live, to vote at the consulate in Charlottenburg on the western border. This Tuesday is the last day and the transfer is constant. Around 100,000 Turks are allowed to vote in Berlin. After 50 years in Germany and having raised his three children here, he says he feels as much German as Turkish in Berlin, or at least feels at home. Adjusting wasn’t easy at first, he admits, and of course there were times when he felt discriminated against. Learning the German language was crucial for his integration, he says. In Germany he votes for the SPD, “the party that defends the workers”.
Taskin Yilmaz, this Tuesday in Berlin, on the last day of voting from abroad for the elections in Turkey. Elena G. Sevillano
Citizens living abroad have been able to vote since 2014, when Erdogan changed the law to allow it. So far, the President has clearly had the German-Turks on his side. In the 2018 elections, 52.6% of Turkey’s population voted for the AKP leader, while that share rose to 64.8% in the central European country. This is a German peculiarity that does not exist in other countries. In the United States, for example, he received only 17% of the vote. In the UK 21%.
contradiction between vows
The media is often amazed at the apparent contradiction hidden in the preferences of Turkish-Germans. While in Germany they would vote for or prefer the Social Democrats or the Greens, in their country of origin they opt for the AKP, a religious and conservative party. “You have to consider where the Turkish migration is coming from. They are people from different parts of the country, with different levels of education and culture, and different family ties. In Sweden, for example, there are many Kurds who generally do not vote for the AKP. “The Germans came mainly from Eastern Anatolia, a highly religious rural region, and the first generation passed these influences on to their children,” explains Bastian.
“The Popular Republican Party (CHP), as a left-wing party, is gaining more support in urban centers and in middle-class settings, groups that are underrepresented in the migration process. “In addition, the AKP is better organized in Germany and can mobilize groups of voters better,” adds Yunus Ulusoy from the Foundation Center for Turkish Studies and Integration Research at the University of Düsseldorf.
Many Turks also associate the figure of Erdogan with the development that their country has experienced in recent decades: infrastructure, health care reform, competitive companies and international trade. However, the Turkish President can no longer play this card. Rampant inflation, skyrocketing unemployment and the devaluation of the local currency, the lira, are making young people without prospects.
Sala, 25, and Gizem, 26, are part of this new generation of Turks migrating for work. Gizem’s parents grew up in Germany but returned to Turkey where she was born and is now taking the opposite path to find a future. “Kiliçdaroglu is one of us, a man of the people, he understands us,” he says in English. He has been living in Berlin for less than a year and is learning German. Gizem nods next to him. “I just graduated from Türkiye and didn’t have many prospects there. I hope that they will give me the residence permit and meanwhile I will do a masters degree and do manual work for hours. For the time being, I can’t get anywhere without German,” he says. The political situation in Turkey and the lack of freedom also influenced his decision to leave the country. Now he is afraid that Erdogan will not recognize his possible defeat. “In my country, the tension is the highest, it is very polarized and there is a fear of violence,” he laments, affirming that his compatriots are very aware that this is a crucial moment for the future of the country: “These are decisive elections, the most important of this century”.
Gizem, 26, this Tuesday in front of the Turkish consulate in Berlin.Elena G. Sevillano
Another explanation for Turkish-German support for Erdogan has to do with identity and a sense of belonging. “When the elections are coming up, many remember that they are Turks and not German citizens. They vote based on preferences, desires and fears that exist in Turkey, but which reflect what they experienced in Germany: often discrimination, the feeling of being a second-class citizen,” emphasizes Bastian. This happens, he adds, even if they have socialized in Germany, speak German and are interested in German political life.
“Erdogan values identity characteristics such as Turk or Muslim, which tend to have negative connotations in Germany and are associated with experiences of discrimination.” This also creates an attitude of protest against the public demonization of the president, which motivates some to vote for him,” says Ulusoy.
In front of the consulate, many voters prefer not to reveal who they supported. “I voted for democracy,” some say in passing with a half-smile. Others simply apologize. A couple walk away angry because they couldn’t choose. They weren’t on the lists. Sarp is the only one of the dozens polled who admits to having voted for Erdogan. He is 31 years old and lives “professionally” halfway between Berlin and Turkey. “The type of business doesn’t matter,” he replies mysteriously when asked what he does. The president seems to him to be a strong man, a leader, and he says he doesn’t see that leadership in the other candidates. “There is no competition,” he says with conviction.
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