The Turks in Germany have voted – and the lack of understanding is great again: “Despite all the justified criticism of failures in integration policy by the majority society”, wrote the Baden-Württemberg Green politician Danyal Bayaz on Twitter: “That can never be a reason to support Erdoğan’s authoritarian and anti-democratic course. It stuns me, it makes me at a loss.”
Bayaz’ helplessness refers to the once again very high support for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan among the Turks living in Germany. According to the state news agency Anadolu, after almost 98 percent of the ballot boxes were opened, one thing was clear: the incumbent won 65.4 percent of the votes in Germany – more than 461,000 eligible voters voted for him. Challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 32.6 percent of the votes.
Once again, Erdoğan got a far better result than in Turkey itself. And once again, his approval rating in Germany will probably be higher than in the rest of the world. This is not surprising: the election results in Germany seem to have always followed this rule.
There are also historical reasons for the high popularity values
In the 2018 presidential election, Erdoğan won 64.8 percent of the votes in Germany – abroad the total was 60.2 percent. At that time, the AKP politician had achieved an absolute majority with an overall result of 52.6 percent in the first ballot.
In 2014, too, it was enough for an absolute majority in the first round with an overall result of 51.8 percent. In Germany, 68.6 percent of the Turkish voters helped him to victory – in all abroad it was 62.3 percent.
How exactly can the high popularity ratings of the President be explained? There are numerous approaches for this. Yunus Ulusoy from the Center for Turkish Studies in Essen lists historical reasons. The guest workers were primarily people from the Anatolian heartland who brought their religious-conservative attitudes with them to Germany.
Gökay Sofuoğlu, the head of the Turkish community in Germany, on the other hand, points to Erdoğan’s strong efforts to establish a connection to the Turks living here. He presented himself as her “carer”. Especially among the younger Turks there is “a kind of protest attitude due to experiences of discrimination”. Erdoğan describes himself as a “strong man who gives you the feeling of being part of a great nation, promises you identity and belonging and cements this – unlike possibly German politics”.
Compared to the election turnout in Turkey, however, this is very low in this country
After all, Erdoğan’s party, the AKP, is by far the best at mobilizing its electorate. Of the 1.5 million Turks in Germany who are entitled to vote, supporters of the president go to the polls at all. The very low voting rate of just under 49 percent in Germany compared to turnout in Turkey (87 percent) allows the conclusion that the results do not necessarily reflect the prevailing attitude of all Turks living in Germany.
For the run-off election on May 28, Turks in Germany are called upon to vote for either Erdoğan or Kılıçdaroğlu. They do not cast their votes on election day, but a few days beforehand.