Turks in the Netherlands

Gerrit Berckheyde's painting, Stadhuis op de Dam, (1672) depicting a Turk in the foreground with two Jewish men and a Dutchman at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

The first Turkish settlers in the Netherlands dates back to the 16th century, when Ottoman Turkish traders settled in many Dutch and Flemish trading towns. The English traveller Andrew Marvell referred to the Netherlands as "the place for Turk, Christian, heathen, Jew; staple place for sects and schisms" due to the religious freedom and the large number of different religious groups there.[4] References to the Ottoman state and Islamic symbolism were also frequently used within 16th century Dutch society itself, most notably in Protestant speeches called hagenpreken, and in the crescent-shaped medals of the Geuzen, bearing the inscription "Rather Turkish than Papists". When Dutch forces broke through the Spanish siege of Leiden in 1574, they carried with them Turkish flags into the city.[5] During the Siege of Sluis in Zeeland in 1604, 1,400 Turkish slaves were freed by Maurice of Orange from captivity by the Spanish army.[6] The Turks were declared free people and the Dutch state paid for their repatriation. To honour the resistance of the Turkish slaves, Prince Maurice named a local embankment "Turkeye".

Diplomat Cornelius Haga gained trading privileges from Constantinople for the Dutch Republic in 1612, some 40 years before any other nation recognized Dutch independence.[7] Two years later the Ottomans sent their emissary Ömer Aga to the Netherlands to intensify the relations between the two states.[8]

A Turkish "guest worker" at work behind a machine in the Vredestein factory in Loosduinen, 1971.

A Turkish Foundation in Amsterdam

During the 1950s, successive Dutch governments strongly stimulated emigration from the Netherlands, while at the same time the economy grew rapidly. The Netherlands began to face a labour shortage by the mid-1950s already, which became more serious during the early 1960s, as the country experienced even higher economic growth rates, comparable to the rest of Europe.[9] At the same time, Turkey had a problem of unemployment, low GNP levels and a high population growth. So the import of labour solved problems on both ends.[10] The first Turkish immigrants arrived in the Netherlands in the beginning of the 1960s at a time when the Dutch economy was wrestling with a shortage of workers.[11] On 19 August 1964, the Dutch government entered into a 'recruitment agreement' with Turkey.[12] Thereafter, the number of Turkish workers in the Netherlands increased rapidly.[13]

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, either being recruited by employers or immigrating spontaneously. A small 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. In May 1968, new European Economic Community rules forced the Netherlands to instate a travel visa system to regulate labour immigration and from then on, the state recruited foreign workers. The peak of Turkish labour migration occurred during these years. The Turks eventually surpassed other migrant nationalities in numbers and came to represent the Dutch image of guest workers.[11]

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.[14]

At the end of 1973, the labour recruitment was nearly brought to a halt, and the Turks were no longer admitted to the Netherlands as labour migrants. Turkish immigration, however, continued practically unabatedly through the process of family reunification.[15] 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 decrease, but, in 1985, it began to rise again. Most of them had a bride or bridegroom come over from their native land. Marriage immigration continued into the early twenty-first century, though net immigration again decreased in the 1990s.[16] In 2004, stricter laws largely ended marriage immigration, causing in some years net emigration. After 2016, political persecution lead to an influx of Turkish asylum seekers.

In 2009 The Sofia Echo reported that Turkish Bulgarians were now the fastest-growing group of immigrants in the Netherlands. At the time, they numbered between 10,000 and 30,000.[17] Similarly, De Telegraaf and De Pers have also reported that the Turkish Bulgarians were the fast-growing group of migrants; furthermore, the Turkish Bulgarians formed 90% of Bulgarian citizens arriving in the Netherlands.[18][19] The majority, of about 80%, have come from the south-eastern Bulgarian district of Kardzhali (Kırcaali) which has a Turkish majority population.[20]

Although Bulgaria joined the European Union during the 2007 enlargement, the rights of Bulgarian citizens to work freely as EU nationals in the Netherlands came into full effect on 1 January 2014. Consequently, there were strong indications that the migration of Turkish Bulgarians to the Netherlands (as well as other parts of Europe) would continue.[21]

Indeed, a 2015 study by Mérove Gijsberts and Marcel Lubbers found that Turkish Bulgarians were more likely to stay in the Netherlands than ethnic Bulgarians; it also found that Turkish Bulgarians were much more satisfied with their lives in the Netherlands than the ethnic Bulgarians.[22]

Members of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace in Greece began to migrate to the Netherlands in the 1960s, increasing further in the 1970s. Initially, these early migrants intended to return to Greece after working for a number of years in the Netherlands; however, the Greek government used Article 19 of the 1955 Greek Constitution to strip some members of the Turkish minority living abroad of their Greek citizenship.[23][24] Consequently, many ethnic Turks were forced to remain in the Western European countries they had settled in, which, in turn, also established the permanent Turkish Western Thracian community in the Netherlands.[23] By 1983, the Western Thrace Turks founded their first organisation, the Alblasserdam Batı Trakya Türkleri Cemiyeti ("Alblasserdam Western Thrace Turks Association"), in the town of Alblasserdam.[25]

More recently, the community has increased significantly due to the large numbers of new arrivals since the twenty-first century. For many, the Greek government-debt crisis in 2007-08 was a big factor in seeking better economic opportunities in the Netherlands. In 2009 the Western Thrace Turks established the Hollanda Batı Trakya Türk Kültür ve Dayanışma Derneği ("Western Thrace Turks Culture and Solidarity Association of the Netherlands") which consists of cognates residing in different regions of the Netherlands.[25] By 2017, the Hollanda Lahey Batı Trakya Türk Birlik ve Beraberlik Derneği ("Hague Western Thrace Turks Unity Association of the Netherlands") was established by the community living in The Hague.[26] Many have settled in the Randstad region. After Germany, the Netherlands is the most popular destination for Turkish immigrants from Western Thrace.[27]

Between 1970 and 2018, approximately 100,000 Western Thrace Turks have immigrated to Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.[28]

Some members of the Turkish Macedonian minority have emigrated to the Netherlands for better economic opportunities.[3]

Since the first decade of the twenty-first century, there has been a significant decrease in the population of the Turkish Romanian minority group due to the admission of Romania into the European Union and the subsequent relaxation of the travelling and migration regulations. Thus, Turkish Romanians, especially from the Dobruja region, have joined other Romanian citizens in migrating mostly to Western European countries, including the Netherlands.[29]

The majority of the Turkish Cypriots left the island of Cyprus due to economic and political reasons in the 20th century. Traditionally, most who migrated to Western Europe settled in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Austria; however, since the 1990s, the Netherlands began to attract the bulk of Turkish Cypriot migrants.[30]

Iraqi Turks protesting in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam.

Significant migration waves from the Turkish Iraqi community to the Netherlands occurred during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), the Gulf War (1991), and the Iraq War (2003–11). According to Professor Suphi Saatçi, in 2010 the Iraqi Turks in the Netherlands numbered around 4,000.[31] Iraqi Turks have continued to migrate to the Netherlands during the European migrant crisis (2014–19).

Due to the Syrian civil war, many Syrian Turks were forced to initially take refuge in Turkey; from there, many continued Westwards, especially during the European migrant crisis (2014–19). The majority of Turkish Syrian refugees arrived in the Netherlands via the highway through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Austria and Germany.[32]

In addition to ethnic Turkish people that have migrated to the Netherlands from traditional areas of settlement in post-Ottoman modern nation-states, there has also been an increasing migration to the Netherlands from other countries in the modern Turkish diaspora. For example, members of the Turkish German and Turkish Belgian communities have also settled in the Netherlands.[3] Most have emigrated using their EU citizenship rights (i.e. the freedom of movement) as German or Belgian nationals.[3]

Official data published by Statistics Netherlands only collects data on the country of birth and does not provide data on ethnicity. Consequently, the 410,000 people recorded from Turkey (first and second-generation only) in 2019[2] is problematic as a reflection of the total ethnic Turkish population. Firstly, ethnic Turks which have arrived in the Netherlands from the Balkans, Cyprus, the Levant, North Africa, and the diaspora (e.g Belgium and Germany)[3] are recorded according to their citizenship, such as "Belgian", "Bulgarian", "Cypriot", "German", "Greek", "Iraqi", "Lebanese" "Macedonian", "Syrian" etc. rather than by their ethnicity. Although these ethnic Turkish communities have different nationalities, they might share the same ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious origins as mainland ethnic Turks.[36] Secondly, Statistic Netherlands does not provide any data on Dutch-born citizens of ethnic Turkish origin who are from the third generation,[3] but the total non-western third generation is indicated as small in absolute numbers.

The percentage of first and second generation Turks marrying a bride or groom from Dutch descent has been stable at around 5-10% from 2001 to 2015.[37]

The estimates on the Turkish-Dutch community have varied. Suzanne Aalberse et al. have said that, despite the official Dutch statistics, "over the years" the Turkish community "must have numbered half a million".[1] Sometimes sources casually mention much higher estimates, equalling the official total number of non-western immigrants and their descendants.

The total amount of first and second generation Turks increased from 271.514 in 1996 to 429.978 in 2022.

According to a study by Petra Wieke de Jong, focusing on second-generation Turkish-Dutch people who were specifically born in the years 1983 to 1992 only, there was 6,914 people from this age group and generation who left the Netherlands and emigrated to other countries as Dutch citizens between the years 2001 and 2017. Of those who reported their destination, the most popular country was to Turkey (37.78%), followed by Belgium (17.47%), Germany (11.64%) and the United Kingdom (1.48%). In addition, some of these emigrants reported moving to other EU countries (3.43%) or to outside the EU (2.7%). However, a large portion of these Turkish-Dutch emigrants, totaling 1,761 (i.e. 25.47%), did not report their destination of emigration.[40]

The first generation of Turkish immigrants is predominantly Turkish-speaking and has only limited Dutch competence.[41] 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.[42]

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.[43] The young bilinguals, therefore, speak normal Turkish with their elders, and a kind of Dutch-Turkish with each other.[44]

The Turkish Mevlana Mosque in Rotterdam was voted the most attractive building in 2006.

The Ayasofya Camii, popularly known at the Westermoskee, is located in Amsterdam. It is the largest mosque in the Netherlands.

When family reunification resulted in the establishment of Turkish communities, the preservation of Turkish culture became a more serious matter. Most Turks consider Islam to be the centre of their culture.[45] 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 five percent of the Dutch population (850,000 persons), were followers of Islam in 2006. Furthermore, eighty-seven percent of Turks were followers of Islam.[46] The Turkish community accounted for almost forty percent of the Muslim population; thus are the largest ethnic group in the Netherlands adhering to Islam.[47]

Turks are considered to be the most organised ethnic group with its activities and organisations.[48] The Turkish Islamic Cultural Federation (TICF) which was founded in 1979, had seventy-eight member associations by the early 1980s, and continued to grow to 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.[49]

The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) established a branch in the Netherlands in 1982 with the intent to oppose the influence of leftist asylum seekers from Turkey as well as rightist members of Islamist movements such as Millî Görüş. In 1983, the Netherlands agreed to allowing Turkey to send its own imams to the Turkish guest worker communities.[50] Critics of this agreement argue that these imams, some of whom do not speak Dutch, hinder the effective integration of Dutch-Turkish Muslims into the society of the Netherlands by promoting allegiance to the Turkish state while neglecting to promote loyalty to the Dutch state.[50]

Of the 475 mosques in the Netherlands in 2018, a plurality (146) are controlled by the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Diyanet implements the political ideology of the Islamist Turkish AKP party.[50] Diyanet mosques, have stayed out of initiatives to train imams in the Netherlands which were designed to train Islamic preachers who were familiar with the European context and to promote Dutch values and norms.[50] This resistance is based on that it would be more difficult to import Diyanet imams, who are employees of the Turkish state, from Turkey if they cooperated in Dutch imam training programs. Diyanet imams receive benefits and political tasks which are comparable to those of Turkish diplomats.[50]

In April 2006, the Turkish Mevlana Mosque had been voted the most attractive building in Rotterdam in a public survey organised by the City Information Centre. It had beaten the Erasmus Bridge due to the mosques 'symbol of warmth and hospitality'.[51]

Born to a Turkish father and a Dutch mother, Stephan van Baarle is a member of the Turkish-Dutch founded DENK party and an elected member of the House of Representatives.

In February, 2015, Turkish-born Dutch parliamentarians, Tunahan Kuzu and Selçuk Öztürk, established the political party DENK (which in Dutch means "think" and in Turkish means "equal" or "balanced").[55] In its manifesto, DENK was established to combat their perceived rising intolerance, right-wing thinking, and xenophobia in the Netherlands.[55] The party carries the program advanced by the International Institute for Scientific Research, based in the Hague, with the purpose of decolonization.[56] Consequently, the party has been in direct response to the "nativist and isolationalist positions promoted by Geert Wilders" and his populist right Freedom Party.[56] Among its policies, DENK seeks to: establish a "racism register" to track and condemn the use of hate speech against religion; build a Dutch slavery museum; abolish the black minstrel character Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete"); and ban the use of the derogatory Dutch word "Allochtoon".[56] Although the party has been popularly described as a "Muslim political party", DENK "does not promote Muslim canadidates as do most similar political parties in Europe".[56] In the 2017 elections, votes for DENK exceeded those of the PVdA and Wilders's PVV in Rotterdam and The Hague; moreover, DENK also exceeded the PVV's votes in Amsterdam.[56] The party won three seats at the 2017 election; thus, DENK is the first migrant-founded party to gain seats in the Dutch national parliament.[57] In the 2021 elections the party stayed at 3 seats.