DUAL POLITICAL IDENTITY
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DUAL POLITICAL IDENTITY Immigrants change slowly because they are more attached to the values of the country they leave behind. They try to maintain the values that have weakened in their previous country and cannot easily get used to the new ones that have replaced them. Immigrants are more conservative than people in their former countries. After 60 years, it should not be surprising that Erdoğan and the AKP have more supporters in Germany, which is home to about half of the people who have left Turkey for other countries, than in Turkey. This has nothing to do with the fact that the economic situation in Germany is on average better than in Turkey. It may seem paradoxical that those who favour the AKP and other right-wing parties in Turkey favour more left-wing parties in Germany - such as the SPD and the Greens - but it is not. The dual political identity of migrants is the result of a rational choice. In the 1990s, MHP supporters were interviewed in a French town close to the German border. It was clear which party these people were supporters of in Turkey, but in the French elections they supported the French Communist Party (FKP). Why, because it was the party that best defended the rights of immigrants. The MHP's counterparts in France were the National Front and Chirac's party, but they were in favour of restricting the rights of immigrants. Therefore, these parties, to which they were closer in terms of political views, could not get the support of MHP migrants. A similar situation has been observed in Germany for years. Until the late 1990s, the party most supported by immigrants from Turkey was the SPD. It was followed by the Greens. Support for Christian Democratic parties was low. In those years, an official from the Christian Democratic Party said the following: "Turks and we are committed to religious values (it doesn't matter whether we are Christians or Muslims). Family is important. We are conservative people. The characterisations were correct. Immigrants from Turkey should have supported the Christian Democrats, but they did not do so because they did not defend immigrants' rights like the SPD and the Greens. Years have passed. There is a fourth generation in Germany. The first generation has either returned to their country of origin or no longer lives there, and their numbers have dwindled. Many have become German citizens. The facilitation of naturalisation also played a role in this. Which party do these former immigrants and today's German citizens choose in the elections? There are no reliable statistics on this issue, but it can be estimated. While the support for the SPD and the Greens has decreased, that of the Christian Democrats has increased. People with right-wing political views have started to make political choices accordingly in Germany. The change in the policies of the Christian Democratic parties towards people with immigrant origins and the fact that people with immigrant origins have taken office in the state governments formed by these parties have also played a role in this development. Nevertheless, the dual political identity has not disappeared, but it has receded. As the history of migration continues, similar developments will take place in countries where migration is more recent than in Germany.
