Turks in Austria, also referred to as Turkish Austrians and Austrian Turks, (; ) are people of Turkish ethnicity living in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. They form the largest ethnic minority group in the country; thus, the Turks are the second largest

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

in Austria after the ethnic

Austrian people Austrians (, ) are the citizens and Nationality, nationals of Austria. The English term ''Austrians'' was applied to the population of Archduchy of Austria, Habsburg Austria from the 17th or 18th century. Subsequently, during the 19th century, ...

. The majority of Austrian Turks descend from the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

; however, there has also been significant Turkish migration from other post- Ottoman countries including ethnic Turkish communities which have come to Austria from the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

(especially from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

), the island of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, and more recently

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

History

Turkish migration from the Republic of Turkey

Turkish people were recruited to Austria as

Gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...

(guest workers) for the construction and export industries following an agreement with the Turkish government in 1964. From 1973 the policy of encouraging guest workers ended and restrictive immigration laws were introduced, first with the 1975 Aliens Employment Act, setting quotas on work permits, and then the 1992

Residence Act The Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States (), is a United States federal statute adopted during the second session of the 1st United States Cong ...

, which set quotas for residency permits without the right to work. A more restrictive system was put in place in 1997 and further limits imposed in 2006. Since the 1970s Turks living and working in Austria have focused on family reunification and on seeking Austrian citizenship, for which they need to have lived in Austria for 10 years.

Turkish migration from the Balkans

Bulgaria

Initially, Turkish Bulgarians came to Austria after fleeing the height of the Bulgarisation policies in the late 1980s, known as the so-called " Revival Process", when the communist ruler Todor Zivkov introduced an assimilation campaign in which Turks were forced to change their Turkish names for Bulgarian names, followed by the banning of the

Turkish language Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languag ...

and ethnic cleansing. Approximately 1,000 Turkish Bulgarians took refuge in Austria where they have since stayed permanently. The social network of the first wave of political emigration of Turkish Bulgarians became the basis of labour migration to Western Europe after the collapse of the totalitarian regime in Bulgaria in late 1989. Thus, the preservation of kinship has opened an opportunity for many Turkish Bulgarian to continue to migrate to Western Europe, especially to Austria, Germany and Sweden. More recently, once Bulgaria became a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

during the 2007 enlargement, the number of Turkish Bulgarian migrants in Austria increased further due to their freedom of movement rights as

EU citizens The European Union citizenship is a legal status afforded to all nationals of member states of the European Union (EU). It was formally created with the adoption of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, at the same time as the creation of the EU. EU ...

. Thus, Turkish Bulgarian emigration to Austria in the twenty-first century has been dictated by the economic situation and the stagnation of the labour market in Bulgaria. In the 2010s, the Turkish-dominated

Movement for Rights and Freedoms The Movement for Rights and Freedoms ( ''Dvizhenie za prava i svobodi'', ДПС, DPS; , HÖH) is a political party in Bulgaria with a support base among ethnic minority communities. Until 2024 it was a member of the Liberal International and ...

political party in Bulgaria has been mobalising hundreds of Turkish Bulgarians in Austria, Germany and Spain.

Greece

The first mass migration of the Turkish minority of Western Thrace (located in

) to Austria began in the 1960s and intensified further between 1970-2010 due to political and economic reasons. In general, these migrants intended to return to Greece after working for a number of years; however, the Greek government used Article 19 of the 1955

Greek Constitution The Constitution of Greece () was created by the Fifth Revisionary Hellenic Parliament in 1974, after the fall of the Greek junta and the start of the Third Hellenic Republic. It came into force on 11 June 1975 (adopted two days prior) and has ...

to strip members of the Turkish minority living abroad of their Greek citizenship. According to Article 19 of the Greek Constitution: A report published by the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

in 1990 confirmed that: 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 Austria. More recently, the second mass migration wave of ethnic Turks from Greece has been significantly larger in numbers, although it occurred only within eight years, between 2010-18, due to the

Greek government-debt crisis Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family ** Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kn ...

Kosovo

Initially, Turkish Kosovars came to Austria when

was still part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. The ethnic Turkish minority joined other Yugoslav citizens (i.e. Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs etc.) in migrating as "guest workers" in the 1960s and 1970s and then later brought their family members to Austria too. More recently, Kosovo Turks have also arrived as refugees during the

Kosovo war The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

(1998-99). The Turkish Kosovar community in Austria have been active in lobbying for the opening of more Turkish schools in the

North Macedonia

The Turkish Macedonians first began to arrive in Austria as "guest workers" in the 1960s and 1970s alongside other citizens from

. Since

gained independence in 1991, ethnic Turks have continued to migrate to Austria. In 2021, Furkan Çako, who is a former Macedonian minister and member of the Security Council, urged Turkish Macedonians living in Austria to participate in North Macedonia's 2021 census.

Romania

Since the beginning 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

into the

and the subsequent relaxation of the travelling and migration regulations. Hence, Turkish Romanians, especially from the

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

region, have joined other Romanian citizens (e.g. ethnic

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, etc.) in migrating mostly to Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and the UK.

Turkish migration from the Levant

Cyprus

The majority of the

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

left the island of

due to economic and political reasons in the 20th century. Traditionally, most who migrated to Western Europe settled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and

.. The majority of Turkish Cypriots in Austria arrived after 1974, following the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

by the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

and then the reactionary Turkish invasion of the island. More recently, with the

2004 enlargement of the European Union The largest enlargement of the European Union (EU), in terms of number of states and population, took place on 1 May 2004. The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries (sometimes referred to as the "A10" countries): Cyprus, ...

, Turkish Cypriots have had the freedom of movement rights to live and work across the

, including in Austria, as

. The

TRNC Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

provides assistance to its Turkish Cypriots residents living in Austria via TRNC Representative Office located in

Gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

; in addition,

the office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

promotes friendly relations between the TRNC and Austria, as well as economic and cultural relations.

Syria

Thousands of Syrian Turks, alongside ethnic Arabs, Syrian Kurds and other minority groups in

, fleeing the Syrian civil war, came to Austria during the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and Human migration, migrants into Europe, mostly from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request Right of asyl ...

of 2014–19 as Syrian refugees. This mass migration accelerated on 4 September 2015, when Chancellor

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

of Austria, in conjunction with Chancellor

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

of Germany, announced that migrants would be allowed to cross the border from Hungary into Austria and Germany.

Population

The Turkish Austrian community is made up of ethnic Turkish people who have migrated from Turkey and their Austrian-born descendants as well as ethnic Turkish communities which originate from the

(especially from

and

) and the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

(mainly from

and

). Consequently, official statistics published by the Austrian state does not provide a true reflection of people who self-identify fully, or partially, as Turkish because citizens in Austria are not given the opportunity to declare their ethnicity in official censuses. In 2010

Ariel Muzicant Ariel Muzicant (; born 1952 in Haifa, Israel) is an Austrian-Israeli businessman, who served as the president of the Viennese Jewish community (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien). He is the president of the Bnai Brith lodge Zwi-Perez-Chajes and ...

said that the Turks in Austria already numbered 400,000. A report by the Initiative Minderheiten suggested a lower figure of 360,000 people of Turkish origin in 2011, which was also echoed by the former Austrian Foreign Minister and

Chancellor of Austria The chancellor of Austria, officially the federal chancellor of the Republic of Austria (), is the head of government of the Austria, Republic of Austria. List of chancellors of Austria, Twenty-nine people have served as chancellor. The curre ...

Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is an Austrian former politician who served twice as Chancellor of Austria, first from 2017 to 2019 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Kurz was born and raised in Meidling, Vienna. He entered politics by ...

. Another estimate by the former Austrian MEP,

Andreas Mölzer Andreas Mölzer (born 2 December 1952) is an Austrian politician and former Member of the European Parliament for the Freedom Party of Austria. Biography Born in Leoben, Styria, Andreas Mölzer is of Styrian origin and attended grammar school in ...

, has claimed that there are 500,000 Turks in the country. Similarly, a report by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 2011 said that the Turkish community in Austria outnumbers the 500,000

British Turks British Turks () or Turks in the United Kingdom () are Turkish people who have immigrated to the United Kingdom. However, the term may also refer to British-born persons who have Turkish parents or who have a Turkish ancestral background. Turks ...

. In 2015, the Armenian ambassador to Austria, Arman Kirakossian, also said that there was "a 500,000-strong Turkish population in Austria".

Settlements

The Turkish Austrian community live throughout the big cities such as

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. In addition, there are large communities in smaller towns; for example, in the market town of Telfs the Turkish community form approximately 20% of the population.

Politics

In the 2020 Viennese state election, According to analysis published by the OGM Institute, 20% of voters of Turkish immigrant background voted for Social Austria of the Future (SÖZ), making it the second-most popular party among this demographic. SÖZ, a minor party representing immigrant interests, won just 1.2% of the vote overall. The

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

SPÖ also performed better among Turkish immigrants than the overall electorate, with all other parties performing worse, particularly the ÖVP (10%) and Greens (9%).

Notable people

File:Cem Atan - SV Mattersburg (Bild 2).jpg, Cem Atan, football player File:20171213 Vahide Aydin 850 8497.jpg, Vahide Aydın, politician File:Turhan Bey 1 cropped.jpg,

Turhan Bey Turhan Bey (born Turhan Gilbert Selahattin Şahultavi, 30 March 192230 September 2012). was an Austrian-born actor of Turkish and Czech-Jewish origins. Active in Hollywood from 1941 to 1953, he was dubbed "The Turkish Delight" by his fans.. Aft ...

, actor File:Ekrem Hayyam Dag cropped.jpg, Ekrem Dağ, football player File:Austria national under-17 football team - Teamcamp 20180905 (18).jpg, Yusuf Demir, football player File:Efgani Dönmez Wahlkampfauftakt Grüne Nationalratswahl 2013 Österreich.jpg, , politician File:Web Summit 2018 - MoneyConf - Day 2, November 7 SD5 8038 (30827341087).jpg, Hikmet Ersek, CEO of

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

File:Oğuz Galeli (cropped).jpg, , actor File:Heinreich emel.jpg, Emel Heinreich, actress, author and film-director File:Veli Kavlak 9316.JPG, Veli Kavlak, football player File:Alev Korun 02.jpg, Alev Korun, politician File:Österreichischer Filmpreis 2015 Murathan Muslu 1.jpg, , actor Ferzan Ferhan Önder 2017 Kulturfabrik Hainburg Austria.jpg, Ferhan & Ferzan Önder, pianists File:AUT vs. TUR 2016-03-29 (146).jpg, Ramazan Özcan, football player File:Yasin Pehlivan - SK Rapid Wien (1).jpg,

Yasin Pehlivan Yasin Pehlivan (born 5 January 1989) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He is also part of the Austria national team. Since his debut in 2009, he was capped 17 times. Club career Pehlivan began his career 1998 wi ...

, football player File:Fatima Spar and The Freedom Fries, Vienna 2008 (3).jpg, , jazz musician File:Nurten Yilmaz (14410777289).jpg, Nurten Yılmaz, politician File:2017 Selma Yildirim (36893480372).jpg, Selma Yildirim, politician

References

Bibliography

*. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. *. * *. *. *. *. *. *. * *.

External links

Austria signals policy changes for better relations with Turkey
{{Turkish diaspora *

Middle Eastern diaspora in Austria Ethnic groups in Austria Austria–Turkey relations Muslim communities in Europe tr:Avrupa'da yaşayan Türk vatandaşları#Avusturya