Turks in France

The first Turks settled in France during the 16th and 17th century as galley slaves and merchants from the Ottoman Empire;[2][3] the historian Ina Baghdiantz McCabe has described Marseille as a "Turkish town" during this time.[4] According to Jean Marteilhe "…the Turks of Asia and Europe...of whom there are a great many in the galley of France, who have been made slaves by the Imperialists, and sold to the French to man their galleys… are generally well-made, fair in feature, wise in their conduct, zealous in the observance of their religion, honourable and charitable in the highest degree. I have seen them give away all the money they possessed to buy a bird in a cage that they might have the pleasure of giving it its liberty".[5]

France signed a bilateral labour recruitment agreement with Turkey on 8 May 1965[6] because the number of entrants from other countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal was not sufficient.[7] However, in practice, France started to recruit Turkish labourers in the 1970s, until a decision was made to halt the recruitment on 3 July 1974.[7] By 1975 there were 55,710 Turkish workers living in France,[7] this had almost quadrupled to 198,000 in 1999.[8] The majority of Turkish immigrants came from rural areas of Turkey, especially from central Anatolia.[9]

According to the French census there was 8,000 Turks living in France in 1968, this had increased to 51,000 in 1975, 123,000 in 1982, 198,000 in 1990, and 208,000 in 1999.[16][11] The French censuses only collect data based on the country of birth, therefore, these figures only identify the number of Turkish immigrants from Turkey and does not include the children of immigrants born in France who are recorded as "French" rather than "Turkish".[17] Furthermore, the Turkish population would be greater if naturalised citizens and illegal emigrants were also taken into account.[18] Turkish communities who have emigrated to France from other countries, such as Algeria (Turco-Algerians), Bulgaria (Bulgarian Turks), Cyprus (Turkish Cypriots) and Tunisia (Turco-Tunisians), are recorded according to their country of origin rather than their Turkish ethnicity.

In the early 2000s academics placed the Turkish population at approximately 500,000.[12][19][20] Since the 2010s, immigration flows from Turkey have been increasing faster than flows from Algeria and Morocco.[9] The Turkish population increases by approximately 20,000 each year, although in 2013 it increased a further 35,000.[21] In 2014 the L'Express estimated that there was 800,000 Turks living in France.[22] The Fransa Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği suggests that the actual Turkish population in France is about 1 million, including descendants.[1] The Armenian Weekly has also stated that "there are also about a million French people of Turkish origin".[23]

There is also a minority of Algerian Turks living in France who number in their thousands.[24]

Although the birth rates among Turks living in France has declined over the years they remain substantially higher than the French population. In 1982, the average number of children for Turks was 5.2, compared with 1.8 for the French population. By 1990, the average number of births for Turks was 3.7 compared to 1.7 for the French population.[25]

In 2000, Akıncı and Jisa found that Turkish is spoken exclusively at home by 77% of families, while 68% of children speak French to one another.[26] Turkish children are monolingual in the Turkish language until they start school at the age of 2 or 3; thus, they find themselves in everyday situations in which they have to speak French with their peers.[27] By the age of 10, most children become dominant in the French language.[28] Nonetheless, even for those who use French more than Turkish in their daily lives, numerous studies have shown that they still emphasize the importance of Turkish as the language of the family, particularly for raising children.[29] Thus, there is a high degree of language maintenance in the Turkish community; frequent holidays to Turkey, the easy access and use of Turkish media, and the density of social networks help maintain their language.[30]

A Turkish mosque in Nantes.

The majority of Turks adhere to Islam and focus on creating their own mosques and schools, most of which are tightly linked to Turkey. Thus, Turks worship their religion mainly with others within their community.[31] Due to Turkish immigrants having a strong link to the Turkish state and much less knowledge of the French language, compared to other Muslim immigrants who have emigrated from French-speaking countries, Turks tend to build mosques where sermons are given in Turkish rather than French or Arabic.[32]

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB), which is a branch of the Turkish state Bureau of Religious Affairs (the Diyanet),[32] promotes a "Turkish Islam" which is based upon a moderate, rational Islam of a secular state.[33] The Diyanet has organic links to the "Coordination Committee of Muslim Turks in France", or CCMTF, (French: Comité de coordination des musulmans turcs de France)[34] which brings under its umbrella a total of 210 mosques.[35] Its major competing network of mosques is run by the Millî Görüş movement (French: Communauté Islamique du Milli Görüş de France) which emphasizes the importance of solidarity of the community over integration into French society.[32] The Millî Görüş has an estimated 70 mosques in France.[32][35]

Discrimination against Turks in French society is seen particularly within the labour market when they are looking for jobs. Given a choice between a Turkish and a French with the same qualifications, French employers tend not to choose the immigrant applicant.[39][40]

Some Algerians with Turkish origins have contributed to the arts, sports and politics in France. For example, Nafissa Sid-Cara, who was the first female minister to serve in the French Fifth Republic as well as the first ever Muslim woman to serve as a minister in a French government,[45] was born into a family of Turkish origin which had been established in Algeria;[46] her brother Chérif Sid Cara was also a notable politician and doctor.[46] Other notable French politicians of Algerian-Turkish origin include Mourad Kaouah[47] who served as the deputy of Algiers from 1958 to 1962 - being the only French Muslim deputy at the time.[48] Notable writers include Moroccan-born Leïla Chellabi whose father was an Algerian Turk who obtained French citizenship;[49] Mustapha Haciane was born in Algeria into a Turkish family and currently resides in Paris;[50] and Leïla Sebbar is paternally of Turkish origin through her grandmother.[51] There are also several notable sportsman of Algerian-Turkish origin, including the former pole vaulter and Olympian Patrick Abada[52] as well as footballers Benjamin Stambouli and Mustapha Stambouli. Numerous sources claim that the actress Isabelle Adjani is paternally of Algerian-Turkish origin.[53][54][55][56][57]