Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession pp 259–272Cite as

A Debate Over Return Migration: The Case of Turkish Guest Workers in Germany

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy ((IMPP))

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the return migration of Turkish guest workers and their family members. While doing so, it also elaborates on the theoretical and conceptual discussions of the notion of return migration, and it discusses the empirical question of how return migration has evolved over time in the case of the guest-worker scheme between Turkey and Germany. There are several reasons that make it worthwhile to elaborate the case of Turkish guest workers in Europe in general (and in Germany in particular) in the context of the whole notion of return migration. First, it is a migratory system that has evolved from temporary migration to permanent settlement over the last five decades. Second, while this transformation has taken place, some migrants have returned home, but others have stayed abroad. Third, as this covers a period since the early 1960s, different generations are involved, including first-generation labor migrants as well as their Europe-born children, and even grandchildren. Finally, as this migration from Turkey includes various types of movements such as labor migration, family reunion, asylum seeking, and clandestine flows, return migration to Turkey also consequently consists of various types of returnees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The various projects funded by international organizations like the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the 2000s provide an obvious example of this increasing interest in the studies of return migration and development linkage.

  2. 2.

    TRANS-NET was funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) of the European Union from March 2008 to February 2011. The aim of TRANS-NET was to clarify and compare the complex and multilevel processes of transnationalisation. The project focused on how migrants’ activities across national borders emerged, functioned, and changed. Partners from eight countries participated in the project, which were organized in country pairs of Estonia–Finland, India–UK, Morocco–France, and Turkey–Germany. This section focuses on the research findings in the Turkish–German case using the results from the empirical study of qualitative interviews conducted by Jürgen Gerdes, Eveline Reisenauer, and Deniz Sert with the Turkish–German migrants and their network members in both countries.

  3. 3.

    Data on Turkey’s international migration are derived from a wide variety of sources. The figures in the text are the authors’ estimates, which are based on İçduygu’s long-established and ongoing work on the history of Turkish international migration.

References

  • Abadan-Unat, Nermin. 1976. Turkish migration to Europe, 1960–1977. In Turkish workers in Europe, 1960–1975, ed. Nermin Abadan-Unat, 1–44. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2002. Bitmeyen Göç: Konuk İşçilikten Ulus Ötesi Yurttaşlığa [Unending Migration: From Guestworkers to Transnational Citizenship] Istanbul: Bilgi University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akgündüz, Ahmet. 2008. Labor migration from Turkey to Western Europe, 1960–1974. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayhan, H. Öztaş, B.A. Ergöçmen, A. Hancıoğlu, A. İçduygu, İ. Koç, A. Toros, A.S. Türkyılmaz, T. Ünalan, S. Üner, and E.K. Yiğit. 2000. Push and pull factors of international migration: Country report-Turkey. Luxembourg: EUROSTAT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Böcker, Anita. 1995. Migration networks: Turkish migration to Western Europe. In Causes of international migration, ed. Rob van der Erf and Liesbeth Heering, 151–171. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Böhning, W. 1987. Studies in international migrants. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, Monica. 1989. Family and personal networks in international migration: Recent developments and new agendas. International Migration Review 23: 638–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassarino, Jean-Pierre. 2004. Theorising return migration: The conceptual approach to return migrants revised revisited. International Journal on Multicultural Societies 6: 253–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castles, Stephen, and Mark J. Miller. 2009. The age of migration. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constant, Amelie, and Douglas S. Massey. 2003. Self selection, earnings, and out-migration: A longitudinal study of immigrants to Germany. Journal of Population Economics 16: 631–653.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Djajic, Slobodan. 2008. Immigrant parents and children: An analysis of decisions related to return migration. Journal of Development Economics 12: 469–485.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dustmann, Christian. 1997. Return migration, savings, and uncertainty. Journal of Development Economics 52: 399–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dustmann C. 2001. Why go back? Return motives of migrant workers. In: Djajic S (ed) International migration: trends, policy, and economic impacts. Routledge, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dustmann, Christian, and Yoram Weiss. 2007. Return migration: Theory and empirical evidence. CREAM Discussion Paper No. 02/07.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franz, Erhard. 1994. Population policy in Turkey. Hamburg: Deutsches Orient-Institut.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galor, Oded, and Oded Stark. 1991. The probability of return migration, migrants’ work effort, and Migrants performance. Journal of Development Economics 35: 399–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerdes, J., and E. Reisenauer. 2010. TRANS-NET Country Report: Germany. Bielefeld.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gitmez, Ali S. 1983. Yurtdışına İşçi Göçü ve Geri Dönüşler [Labor Migration and Returns]. Istanbul: Alan Yayıncılık.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gmelch, George. 1980. Return migration. Annual Review of Anthropology 9: 135–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • İçduygu, Ahmet. 1991. Migrant as a transitional category: Turkish Migrants in Melbourne, Australia. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. 1996. A North-to-South migration: From Turkey to Arab Countries. Arab Regional Population Conference, IUSSP Publication, Cairo, 88–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • ______. 2010. SOPEMI Report for Turkey. Unpublished Report, Istanbul.

    Google Scholar 

  • İçduygu, Ahmet, and Kemal Kirişci. 2009. Land of diverse migrations: Challenges of emigration and immigration in Turkey. Istanbul: Bilgi University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katseli, Louka T., Robert E. B. Lucas, and Theodora Xenogiani. 2006. Effects of Migration on Sending Countries: What Do We Know? OECD Development Centre, Working Paper No. 250, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ley, David, and Audrey Kobayashi. 2007. Back to Hong Kong: Return migration or transnational sojourn? Global Networks 5: 111–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Philip L. 1991. The unfinished story: Turkish labour migration to Europe. Geneva: International Labour Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, Douglas S., Joaquin Arango, Graeme Hugo, Ali Kouaouci, Adela Pelligrino, and J. Edward Taylor. 1993. Theories of international migration: A review and appraisal. Population and Development Review 19: 431–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzucato, Valentina. 2007. Return migration in Ghana: An overview. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sert, D. and İçduygu, A. 2010. TRANS-NET Country Report: Turkey. Istanbul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xenogiani, Theodora. 2006. Migration policy and its interactions with aid, trade and foreign direct investment policies: A background paper. OECD Development Centre, Working Paper No. 249, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vreyer, Philippe D., Flore Gubert, and Anne-Sophie Robiliard. 2007. Return migrants in Western Africa: Characteristics and labour market performance. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff, Christopher, and Rene Zenteno. 2007. Migration networks and microenterprises in Mexico. Journal of Development Economics 8: 509–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ahmet İçduygu

  2. Özyeğin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Deniz Sert

Authors
  1. Ahmet İçduygu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Deniz Sert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deniz Sert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    David L. Leal

  2. Department of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin, AUSTIN, Texas, USA

    Nestor P. Rodríguez

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

İçduygu, A., Sert, D. (2016). A Debate Over Return Migration: The Case of Turkish Guest Workers in Germany. In: Leal, D., Rodríguez, N. (eds) Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24445-7_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation