Kurdish, Turkish, German? Identificative integration of Kurds in Germany

ABSTRACT

Kurds have often been labelled a disruptive faction within German society by the media and in several studies. However, many studies have a self-identified weakness in the form of radical or small samples that do not adequately represent the Kurdish majority. The present study is the first to be on a German-wide sample of migrants originating from Turkey and their descendants (N = 1201), twelve per cent of which are Kurdish. We ask how their ethnic and religious identities relate to their identificative integration and their acceptance of the norms and values of German mainstream society. The surprising results show that Kurds identify with German society more closely than their non-Kurdish counterparts do and throughout the analyses, a Kurdish identity remains the strongest predictor of a German identity. The results are discussed in terms of identity-shaping narratives, hybrid identities and the heightened integration pressure placed upon Kurds.

KEYWORDS:

• Kurds
• identity
• narratives
• integration
• religiosity
• Germany

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Michael Blume for encouraging this publication and providing valuable suggestions on the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Deutsche Welle (2018). Kurds in Germany march against Turkey’s “massacre” in Afrin. dw.com/en/kurds-in-germany-march-against-turkeys-massacre-in-afrin/a-43025769 [09 March 2020].

2 Deutsche Welle (2018). Kurdish youth in Germany call for violent protest in Europe. dw.com/en/kurdish-youth-in-germany-call-for-violent-protest-in-europe/a-42935384 [09 March 2020].

3 However, there are some quantitative studies: Schmidt (2000), 350 highly educated Kurdish adolescents in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia; Berendes (1997): representative sample of Kurds in the city of Bottrop; Falk (1998): Kurdish organizations in Germany.

4 According to NAVEND: navend.de/kurden/demographie/ [06 August 2019].

5 Based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) of UNESCO (1997): 0 = no secondary education, 2 = lower secondary, 3 = upper secondary, 4 = A-level and 5 = university or college degree.

6 Christians: 0.7 per cent for Kurds, 1.1 per cent for non-Kurds; other religious affiliation: 0.7 per cent for Kurds, 0.3 per cent for non-Kurds; no religious affiliation: 9.1 per cent for Kurds, 5.7 per cent for non-Kurds.

7 Another explanation for the higher cognitive integration of Kurds is their multilingualism (see Schmidt 2000). Moreover, Kurdish is an Indo-European language that facilitates learning German.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the Cluster of Excellence ‘Religion and Politics’ at University of Munster.