Merz praises Turkish community's contributions to Germany

BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz praised the Turkish community on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, at a ceremony in Berlin, according to Anadolu Agency. The event marked the 65th anniversary of the labour recruitment agreement with Türkiye, signed on October 30, 1961.

Merz said Turkish guest workers "helped build the industrial foundation of our country." He added that they "created the infrastructure of the prosperity in which we live today," Anadolu Agency reported. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the first generation of guest workers, as well as their children and grandchildren.

According to Anadolu Agency, Merz named several people from the community's children and grandchildren who have achieved success. He cited footballer Ilkay Gundogan, film director Fatih Akin, BioNTech founders Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, and authors Aras Oren and Deniz Utlu. He said "there are thousands of others" in every federal state and sector.

Merz described integration as an ongoing task that requires mutual effort in workplaces, schools and sports clubs. He said people who come to Germany should respect its democratic rules, and that they should be able to expect equal opportunity regardless of their migration background.

Merz also acknowledged that many people across three generations have been treated as strangers. He pointed to racist violence, including the 1990s attacks in Moelln and Solingen, carried out by the neo-Nazi group NSU, and the 2020 attack in Hanau. "Fear of the foreign is poison for every free society," he said. He said such fears appear to be increasing. On the term "Remigration," used by politicians of the anti-immigrant AfD, he said it was "an attack on the modern Germany that we have built together."

The source does not report any response from the AfD or other parties to these remarks.

Background

Germany signed the recruitment agreement with Türkiye in 1961. According to Anadolu Agency, the agreement brought 867,000 Turkish guest workers to West Germany before recruitment ended in 1973. About 500,000 later returned to Türkiye. Many others arrived later through family reunification.

Anadolu Agency reports that roughly half of the workers stayed in Germany, brought their families and became part of German society. It says the community now numbers roughly 3 million people, largely descended from those early arrivals.