THE HISTORY OF TURKISH LOBBY IN GERMANY 2
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HISTORY OF THE TURKISH LOBBY IN GERMANY 2 Lobbying involves the joint activity of a large number of influential organisations. It is not necessary that these organisations include a party. These influential organisations can be writers' associations, newspapers, publishing houses, museums, etc. Turkey cannot be said to have taken significant steps in this regard. In the 1990s, there was a Turkish Studies Centre in Essen under the chairmanship of Faruk Şen. In their publications, such organisations should constantly cover the development in Turkey-Germany relations and the changing position of Turkish people in Germany. Although the Research Centre was able to do this for a while, it did not maintain the same level of activity in the following years. Competition for relations with Ankara and Ankara's preference for people who are unconditionally loyal to it and providing resources for them to come to the fore are important obstacles for Turkey to establish effective organisations in Germany. Turkish newspapers had to switch from print to digital in the 2000s. Digital was cheaper and could reach a wider audience, but this transition also signalled the weakening of the Turkish press. Milliyet, Günaydın, Aydınlık became obsolete; only Hürriyet remained. Özgür Politika was also going to cease its print publication because its sales did not cover its costs. Turkey almost gave up lobbying in Germany. The lobby is an autonomous organisation. It works independently of whoever is in government in Ankara to increase Turkey's influence in Germany. This influence varies according to the government and therefore Turkey does not have a consistent lobbying policy. Let alone a lobby, there are no effective organisations, which is a prerequisite for a lobby. There are widespread associations, but they have no influence on German public opinion. For a while, an organisation in which a woman and some business people were at the forefront tried to establish German Islam, but after a while no results were obtained. It is interesting that people who have been living in this country for many years, most of whom were born here, and who undoubtedly speak German well, do not know German culture well enough. Knowing the language of a country is different from knowing its culture. For example, the Ataturkist Thought Associations (ADD) is an organisation that predominantly follows the CHP line. This organisation was heavily criticised when they enlarged Atatürk's words "Happy to be a Turk" and put them up in their local halls. The German version of this is "Ich bin Stolz ein deutscher zu sein", a phrase used by the Nazis. Turkey, both as a government and as an opposition, tries to manage the activities in Germany directly from Ankara and the autonomy, which is a sine qua non condition for a lobby, cannot be established. For example, when CHP branches were opened in some states, there would be problems between individuals that would be reflected in the press. These problems certainly exist in other parties, but they are not reported in the press. The relationship with Ankara determines who is more responsible. In this situation, neither a lobby nor effective organisations can be expected. The Kurds, on the other hand, lost even the chance to form lobbies and influential organisations by getting themselves banned with their actions in 1994. Turkey has been calling for the PKK to be banned in Germany for years, but the German government did not take action because of public sympathy. German public opinion sympathised with the Kurds as a people whose language was banned. The bomb attacks on Turkish businesses in 1994, the overturning of police cars, the beating of some policemen and the broadcasting of these attacks on television can be said to have destroyed the sympathy. Then came the banning of the PKK and the capture and extradition of some of the people Turkey wanted. The PKK did not disappear, but its activities were significantly restricted. The fact that the organisation admitted its mistake years later and asked for the ban to be lifted would not have been fruitful. With the granting of the right to vote in Turkish elections - except for local elections - to those living outside the country, dependence on Ankara has increased and is likely to continue to do so.
