Turks Are Not Delighted
TURKS ARE NOT DELIGHTED DUTCH PEOPLE OF TURKISH ANCESTRY IN UTRECHT THE TNS ERKIN EXPERIENCE LIKE A CASE STUDY Lombok is the oldest and perhaps the most famous multicultural district in Utrecht taking its name from an Indonesian island. In several Indonesian languages the term lombok also means “chilly”. Many of Lombok streets recall Indonesian geography with names such as Balistraat, Borneostraat, Sumatrastraat and Javastraat. And yet Indonesian people are not the majority in Lombok thus this part of Utrecht hosts mostly Turkish people, from the very first generation of workers to an upcoming third. In a few years the biggest mosque in Holland should be built in Westplein, just between Vleutenseweg and Kanaalstraat the two main streets of Lombok. Yet, nowadays the whole construction area looks half abandoned. In fact the works were stopped several months ago because of the presence of asbestos. Thus the call of the muezzin still comes thrice a day from a small red bricked house which is the current mosque.
Westplein, Lombok how it looks today
A rendering of the new mosque
Meeting the Chairman Armand is 23 years old and lives in Kanaalstraat, just in front of Westplein. He has spent all his life in Lombok. As the son of two Turkish parents, coming from Ankara, Armand is born and raised up in Utrecht. He considers himself Turkish and Dutch at the same time. His name is anything but Turkish and comes from the passion of his dad for football. In fact Armand is a homage to Argentinean superstar Diego Armando Maradona. “I think I am the only Turkish with this name” he tells me with a large smile. Since 2006 Armand is the Chairman of TNS Erkin a student association he founded by himself. I meet Armand in the Central Station main hall just one week before his degree proclamation at the Utrecht University where he studied History. Language Skills as a Barrier Armand is totally bilingual. He can switch from fluent Dutch to fluent Turkish without any problem. As far as he knows, all the second generation of Dutch citizens of Turkish
1
ancestry in Utrecht is able to speak or understand Turkish very well. Potentially the capacity of speaking two languages as a native speaker could and should be a social advantage, but in fact it’s not. The problem is that even today could happen how sons of Turkish immigrants in Holland don’t have the occasion to learn Dutch properly before going to school. During the 1980s Armand himself learned to speak Dutch only when he was 6 years old, attending primary school. “When I was a child I didn’t know I was living in Holland – he confesses me – At home I spoke Turkish to my parents. All of my friends came from Turkish families and did the same. When I went outdoors in Lombok, I only met Turkish people through the streets or in the shops along Kanaalstraat”.
The shop window of a typical Turkish-Moroccan bakery along Kanaalstraat in Lombok
21st Century Ghettos This situation hasn’t changed that much in the last years. According to Armand, most of the Holland-grown Turkish people from the second or even from the third generation still live in the same places where they parents moved or in the closest surroundings. This is because of generally they can’t afford to buy houses in the “white” and most expensive parts of Utrecht. Thereby, areas like Lombok could still be considered Turkish ghettos like they were thirty-forty years ago. Furthermore, many Turkish-Dutch young people are unemployed and don’t attend the university. Armand considers himself as an exception to the status quo being a graduated student at the Utrecht University. He tells me how he was the only Turkish student among 300 of his year in the whole History Department. Nowadays around 400,000 people of Turkish people live in the Netherlands, representing the 2.5%
2
of the whole population, but passing the 5% in Utrecht. According to a 2003 population census, this percentage rises up in Lombok where the 42% of people are non-EU citizens (mostly Turkish) while other areas of the city have even more foreigners. For example, Overvecht has a 45% of non-EU inhabitants, again mostly Turkish, while the 75% of people in Kanaleneiland are foreigners, with a majority of Moroccans. In light of these findings it may be argued how people of Turkish ancestry don’t have many representatives in many aspects of cultural, social and political life in Holland. Successful personal stories like the one of Nebahat Albayrak, (who actually was born in Turkey) the current State Secretary of Justice being a young Turkish-Dutch woman are still very uncommon.
Nebahat Albayrak, the Turkish-born State Secretary for Justice of Holland
The Weight of Religion Comparing Dutch-Turkish people with two other large groups of immigrants sons and daughters such as Dutch-Indonesian and Dutch-Moroccans there is something more to say. While Morocco and Indonesia are Islamic countries, Turkey is a laic one. And yet many Turkish people in the Netherlands go to mosques, follow the Qur’an teachings and refers as themselves as Muslims. “Religion becomes more and more important when you’re away from your country, even for Turks” as Armand says. “It’s here in Utrecht that I’ve seen for the first time a Turkish woman wearing a headscarf on a street – he points out – Something like that couldn’t ever happen in Turkey because the law doesn’t allow women to wear headscarves in government places such as primary, middle and high school as well as university”. Hence, if you’re a Muslim woman you can wear a headscarf outdoors in France or in Holland, but not in Turkey. “I think that many people in Holland don’t know this and still think that Turkey is an Islamic country without a modern Constitution”. Insists Armand. Talking about prejudices and reciprocal ignorance there is no doubt that the situation has definitely changed world-wide after 9/11, but even more in the Netherlands. Since 2001 the strain between Dutch society and Holland-grown Muslim people has been boosted by the assassinations of politician Pim Fortuyn and filmmaker Theo Van Gogh between
3
2002 and 2004. Broadly speaking, nowadays Dutchmen are still very tolerant, but the situation for many immigrants sons and daughters is getting worse.
Education as a Weapon of Non-communication Armand went to primary school in a part of Utrecht inhabited only by Dutchmen and quite far from his home in Lombok. And in fact all of his classmates came from Dutch families. At that time the society was less multicultural than today and Armand’s classmates were very curious about him. Some of them had never seen a Turkish boy and wanted to understand more about Turkish people and habits in general. Armand had to explain them how Turkish people are not Arabs, without speaking or understanding written Arabic. Later in his school years Armand attended also a so called Black School where all the students came from immigrant families. Having experienced both the possibilities, Armand has very clear ideas on how to get a better integration through education in Holland “I don’t think that having special schools just for Muslim people or foreigners is a good solution. These schools can only increase the distances between Dutchmen and the sons of Turkish, Indonesian or Moroccan people.” In his opinion the best answer to encourage a multicultural dialogue avoiding reciprocal stereotypes is the promotion of Islamic courses in the Dutch schools instead of having separate schools.
The Birth of an Association Yes, dialogue is important. From schools to universities, our conversation came to his student association: TNS Erkin. What does it mean? Armand explains me how TNS is an acronym for “Turks Nederlandse Studentenassociatie”, while the word Erkin means “freedom, liberty” in Turkish. Armand founded TNS Erkin in 2006 because he wanted to create an association thought for Turkish students but open to everyone also in Utrecht. He tells me that there are 19 universities in Holland, but just 6 of them had Turkish students associations. It took three years to create and establish TNS Erkin. The association became popular after participating to a debate on a Turkish television on September 2006. The topic of the program was related to Dutch Parliamentary Elections. In fact three Turkish-Dutch candidates were just removed by their parties because of their unclear position on the Armenian Genocide. “The television contacted us together with other Turkish students associations to discuss the issue – says Armand – but it came out how we were the only ones who were ready to speak about that because of our independent position”. The program got a wide coverage by several Dutch media and after that many people contacted Armand asking him how to join TNS. “For one month my phone was constantly ringing. I used to receive 30-40 callings a day. I didn’t expect so much success”.
4
Members of TNS Erkin in Turkeye, the Netherlands in 2007. The one on the top is Armand Sag, chairman of the association (courtesy of the TNS Erkin website)
The State of the Art
Nowadays TNS Erkin counts approximately 400 members, 150 of them living in Utrecht. As Armand remarks, everyone can join the association: Turks and Dutch, men and women, Muslims and Christians. The only condition is being a university student. Several TNS members are in fact Dutch students of Turkish Culture at the Utrecht University. Each member of TNS Erkin pays a small yearly fee which allows him or her to have discounts on books or snacks having the possibility of participating to all the events organized by the association. The association is organized in 4 committees and one board. Each committee is formed by 3-6 persons, while just 5 members belong to the board. Every member of the board is also a member of one of the committees. There are monthly board and committee meetings. At the top stands the chairman. As TNS Erkin chairman, Armand has to organize meetings, while all the social, cultural and sport activities pertain to the committees. From the next Academic Year something will change on the top of the association “This is my last year as the TNS Erkin chairman”. Confirms Armand who will definitely continue to follow the association he founded. And yet he’s aware that his first years as a student are over and that he needs to find a temporary job to pay further studies for a master’s degree.
5
Activities & Events
Amusement and leisure activities are important, but TNS Erkin looks further. Conference and debates on social, political, cultural and religious issues are the core of the Utrecht based association program. A recent pivotal point for TNS Erkin has happened on November 2007 in Utrecht. On that occasion the association organized a parade to protest against war and terrorism in Turkey. “We expected no more than 700 people, but we were told by the police that more than 7,000 attended coming from the whole Holland”. All this popularity is a bit too much for Armand who prefers to keep TNS Erkin focused to Utrecht instead of having an extended nationwide association. Nevertheless, the possibility of expanding TNS Erkin in other Dutch universities interests Armand who is working to create synergies in Tillburg, Arnhem and Leiden.
The mach against terrorism in Turkey organized by TNS Erkin in Utrecht on November 4 th, 2007 (courtesy of the TNS Erkin website)
The Golden Age of Public Relations
“At first we had some misunderstandings with other students associations in Holland, because we were new and they didn’t know anything about us” Armand admits. “But now we have very good relations with Turkish students organizations such as Eurasia SV in The Hague, SV Anka in Deventer and Tusat in Twente”.
6
TNS Erkin organized some activities together with SV Anka, while members of Tusat and Eurasia attended to some of TNS social events. Armand did the same in The Hague and Twente, but he would like to organize a big gala evening for all the associations at the beginning of the next Academic Year instead of having four separate events. Moreover, from 2007 TNS Erkin got an affiliation with Utrecht University. The University supports all the activities organized by TNS Erkin committees. From sport events to conferences, from public debates to barbecue evenings and social gatherings. “This affiliation is very important for TNS Erkin because it gives us more visibility, but hasn’t changed our aims – Armand says – We are still independent financing our activities by ourselves or through little sponsorships”. The Importance of Being Earnest (and Independent) Talking about independence, multiculturalism and Turkey something pops up to my mind. Having read an interesting article on The Economist about the Gülen Movement and then having attended to one of their social evenings in Rotterdam, I’m curious to ask Armand if there is any connection between TNS Erkin and Fetullah Gülen. “That movement is becoming really popular and powerful in Turkey and elsewhere – Armand nods – Yet we don’t have anything to do with Gülen. We are and want to be independent – he claims – Moreover, Gülen Movement has its own student association in Holland named Cosmicus Foundation. Some of our members support Fetullah Gülen, but this is because we accept everyone to join us. In our association, therefore you may find people with different political and religious views”. Multilingual Goals At the moment the website of TNS Erkin is only Dutch written. Hence it’s very hard to find information and news on the association if you’re not familiar with Dutch language as many exchange students could be. Armand knows the problem and he’s trying to resolve it as soon as possible. In fact he’s currently working all by himself on the English, Turkish and German versions of the TNS Erkin website. “I will publish everything in the same moments instead of starting with one language and then adding the others step by step” Armand tells me. “Consider that when I created the association some people criticized me because I call it Turks Nederlandse and not Nederlands Turkse” he sighs shaking his head. “Of course I didn’t want to say or demonstrate anything with that name. I just think that Turks Nederlandse sounds better”. That’s why Armand doesn’t want to be accused to prefer German to English or Turkish to German. It shouldn’t take that long and then before summer TNS Erkin will have his multilingual homepage and contents
7
Main Sources http://www.utrecht.nl/images/Secretarie/Bestuursinformatie/Publicaties2003/Pdf/B evolking_2003_H4-2.pdf Statistics on the foreign population in Utrecht on 2003 http://www.meertens.nl/medewerkers/theo.meder/tcult/kasbah.html An article about the so called “Kasbah in de Kanaalstraat” (in Dutch) http://www.tnserkin.nl/ TNS Erkin – Utrecht http://www.eurasiasv.nl/sv/indx.php Eurasia SV – The Hague http://www.svanka.nl/ SV Anka – Deventer http://www.tusat.org/ Tusat – Twente http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10808408 The Economist on the Gülen Movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_in_the_Netherlands Turkish-Dutch people on Wikipedia http://english.justitie.nl/organisation/organisational-chart/Biography_Albayrak.aspx Nebahat Albayrak: State Secretary for Justice
8
Westplein, Lombok how it looks today
A rendering of the new mosque
Meeting the Chairman Armand is 23 years old and lives in Kanaalstraat, just in front of Westplein. He has spent all his life in Lombok. As the son of two Turkish parents, coming from Ankara, Armand is born and raised up in Utrecht. He considers himself Turkish and Dutch at the same time. His name is anything but Turkish and comes from the passion of his dad for football. In fact Armand is a homage to Argentinean superstar Diego Armando Maradona. “I think I am the only Turkish with this name” he tells me with a large smile. Since 2006 Armand is the Chairman of TNS Erkin a student association he founded by himself. I meet Armand in the Central Station main hall just one week before his degree proclamation at the Utrecht University where he studied History. Language Skills as a Barrier Armand is totally bilingual. He can switch from fluent Dutch to fluent Turkish without any problem. As far as he knows, all the second generation of Dutch citizens of Turkish
1
ancestry in Utrecht is able to speak or understand Turkish very well. Potentially the capacity of speaking two languages as a native speaker could and should be a social advantage, but in fact it’s not. The problem is that even today could happen how sons of Turkish immigrants in Holland don’t have the occasion to learn Dutch properly before going to school. During the 1980s Armand himself learned to speak Dutch only when he was 6 years old, attending primary school. “When I was a child I didn’t know I was living in Holland – he confesses me – At home I spoke Turkish to my parents. All of my friends came from Turkish families and did the same. When I went outdoors in Lombok, I only met Turkish people through the streets or in the shops along Kanaalstraat”.
The shop window of a typical Turkish-Moroccan bakery along Kanaalstraat in Lombok
21st Century Ghettos This situation hasn’t changed that much in the last years. According to Armand, most of the Holland-grown Turkish people from the second or even from the third generation still live in the same places where they parents moved or in the closest surroundings. This is because of generally they can’t afford to buy houses in the “white” and most expensive parts of Utrecht. Thereby, areas like Lombok could still be considered Turkish ghettos like they were thirty-forty years ago. Furthermore, many Turkish-Dutch young people are unemployed and don’t attend the university. Armand considers himself as an exception to the status quo being a graduated student at the Utrecht University. He tells me how he was the only Turkish student among 300 of his year in the whole History Department. Nowadays around 400,000 people of Turkish people live in the Netherlands, representing the 2.5%
2
of the whole population, but passing the 5% in Utrecht. According to a 2003 population census, this percentage rises up in Lombok where the 42% of people are non-EU citizens (mostly Turkish) while other areas of the city have even more foreigners. For example, Overvecht has a 45% of non-EU inhabitants, again mostly Turkish, while the 75% of people in Kanaleneiland are foreigners, with a majority of Moroccans. In light of these findings it may be argued how people of Turkish ancestry don’t have many representatives in many aspects of cultural, social and political life in Holland. Successful personal stories like the one of Nebahat Albayrak, (who actually was born in Turkey) the current State Secretary of Justice being a young Turkish-Dutch woman are still very uncommon.
Nebahat Albayrak, the Turkish-born State Secretary for Justice of Holland
The Weight of Religion Comparing Dutch-Turkish people with two other large groups of immigrants sons and daughters such as Dutch-Indonesian and Dutch-Moroccans there is something more to say. While Morocco and Indonesia are Islamic countries, Turkey is a laic one. And yet many Turkish people in the Netherlands go to mosques, follow the Qur’an teachings and refers as themselves as Muslims. “Religion becomes more and more important when you’re away from your country, even for Turks” as Armand says. “It’s here in Utrecht that I’ve seen for the first time a Turkish woman wearing a headscarf on a street – he points out – Something like that couldn’t ever happen in Turkey because the law doesn’t allow women to wear headscarves in government places such as primary, middle and high school as well as university”. Hence, if you’re a Muslim woman you can wear a headscarf outdoors in France or in Holland, but not in Turkey. “I think that many people in Holland don’t know this and still think that Turkey is an Islamic country without a modern Constitution”. Insists Armand. Talking about prejudices and reciprocal ignorance there is no doubt that the situation has definitely changed world-wide after 9/11, but even more in the Netherlands. Since 2001 the strain between Dutch society and Holland-grown Muslim people has been boosted by the assassinations of politician Pim Fortuyn and filmmaker Theo Van Gogh between
3
2002 and 2004. Broadly speaking, nowadays Dutchmen are still very tolerant, but the situation for many immigrants sons and daughters is getting worse.
Education as a Weapon of Non-communication Armand went to primary school in a part of Utrecht inhabited only by Dutchmen and quite far from his home in Lombok. And in fact all of his classmates came from Dutch families. At that time the society was less multicultural than today and Armand’s classmates were very curious about him. Some of them had never seen a Turkish boy and wanted to understand more about Turkish people and habits in general. Armand had to explain them how Turkish people are not Arabs, without speaking or understanding written Arabic. Later in his school years Armand attended also a so called Black School where all the students came from immigrant families. Having experienced both the possibilities, Armand has very clear ideas on how to get a better integration through education in Holland “I don’t think that having special schools just for Muslim people or foreigners is a good solution. These schools can only increase the distances between Dutchmen and the sons of Turkish, Indonesian or Moroccan people.” In his opinion the best answer to encourage a multicultural dialogue avoiding reciprocal stereotypes is the promotion of Islamic courses in the Dutch schools instead of having separate schools.
The Birth of an Association Yes, dialogue is important. From schools to universities, our conversation came to his student association: TNS Erkin. What does it mean? Armand explains me how TNS is an acronym for “Turks Nederlandse Studentenassociatie”, while the word Erkin means “freedom, liberty” in Turkish. Armand founded TNS Erkin in 2006 because he wanted to create an association thought for Turkish students but open to everyone also in Utrecht. He tells me that there are 19 universities in Holland, but just 6 of them had Turkish students associations. It took three years to create and establish TNS Erkin. The association became popular after participating to a debate on a Turkish television on September 2006. The topic of the program was related to Dutch Parliamentary Elections. In fact three Turkish-Dutch candidates were just removed by their parties because of their unclear position on the Armenian Genocide. “The television contacted us together with other Turkish students associations to discuss the issue – says Armand – but it came out how we were the only ones who were ready to speak about that because of our independent position”. The program got a wide coverage by several Dutch media and after that many people contacted Armand asking him how to join TNS. “For one month my phone was constantly ringing. I used to receive 30-40 callings a day. I didn’t expect so much success”.
4
Members of TNS Erkin in Turkeye, the Netherlands in 2007. The one on the top is Armand Sag, chairman of the association (courtesy of the TNS Erkin website)
The State of the Art
Nowadays TNS Erkin counts approximately 400 members, 150 of them living in Utrecht. As Armand remarks, everyone can join the association: Turks and Dutch, men and women, Muslims and Christians. The only condition is being a university student. Several TNS members are in fact Dutch students of Turkish Culture at the Utrecht University. Each member of TNS Erkin pays a small yearly fee which allows him or her to have discounts on books or snacks having the possibility of participating to all the events organized by the association. The association is organized in 4 committees and one board. Each committee is formed by 3-6 persons, while just 5 members belong to the board. Every member of the board is also a member of one of the committees. There are monthly board and committee meetings. At the top stands the chairman. As TNS Erkin chairman, Armand has to organize meetings, while all the social, cultural and sport activities pertain to the committees. From the next Academic Year something will change on the top of the association “This is my last year as the TNS Erkin chairman”. Confirms Armand who will definitely continue to follow the association he founded. And yet he’s aware that his first years as a student are over and that he needs to find a temporary job to pay further studies for a master’s degree.
5
Activities & Events
Amusement and leisure activities are important, but TNS Erkin looks further. Conference and debates on social, political, cultural and religious issues are the core of the Utrecht based association program. A recent pivotal point for TNS Erkin has happened on November 2007 in Utrecht. On that occasion the association organized a parade to protest against war and terrorism in Turkey. “We expected no more than 700 people, but we were told by the police that more than 7,000 attended coming from the whole Holland”. All this popularity is a bit too much for Armand who prefers to keep TNS Erkin focused to Utrecht instead of having an extended nationwide association. Nevertheless, the possibility of expanding TNS Erkin in other Dutch universities interests Armand who is working to create synergies in Tillburg, Arnhem and Leiden.
The mach against terrorism in Turkey organized by TNS Erkin in Utrecht on November 4 th, 2007 (courtesy of the TNS Erkin website)
The Golden Age of Public Relations
“At first we had some misunderstandings with other students associations in Holland, because we were new and they didn’t know anything about us” Armand admits. “But now we have very good relations with Turkish students organizations such as Eurasia SV in The Hague, SV Anka in Deventer and Tusat in Twente”.
6
TNS Erkin organized some activities together with SV Anka, while members of Tusat and Eurasia attended to some of TNS social events. Armand did the same in The Hague and Twente, but he would like to organize a big gala evening for all the associations at the beginning of the next Academic Year instead of having four separate events. Moreover, from 2007 TNS Erkin got an affiliation with Utrecht University. The University supports all the activities organized by TNS Erkin committees. From sport events to conferences, from public debates to barbecue evenings and social gatherings. “This affiliation is very important for TNS Erkin because it gives us more visibility, but hasn’t changed our aims – Armand says – We are still independent financing our activities by ourselves or through little sponsorships”. The Importance of Being Earnest (and Independent) Talking about independence, multiculturalism and Turkey something pops up to my mind. Having read an interesting article on The Economist about the Gülen Movement and then having attended to one of their social evenings in Rotterdam, I’m curious to ask Armand if there is any connection between TNS Erkin and Fetullah Gülen. “That movement is becoming really popular and powerful in Turkey and elsewhere – Armand nods – Yet we don’t have anything to do with Gülen. We are and want to be independent – he claims – Moreover, Gülen Movement has its own student association in Holland named Cosmicus Foundation. Some of our members support Fetullah Gülen, but this is because we accept everyone to join us. In our association, therefore you may find people with different political and religious views”. Multilingual Goals At the moment the website of TNS Erkin is only Dutch written. Hence it’s very hard to find information and news on the association if you’re not familiar with Dutch language as many exchange students could be. Armand knows the problem and he’s trying to resolve it as soon as possible. In fact he’s currently working all by himself on the English, Turkish and German versions of the TNS Erkin website. “I will publish everything in the same moments instead of starting with one language and then adding the others step by step” Armand tells me. “Consider that when I created the association some people criticized me because I call it Turks Nederlandse and not Nederlands Turkse” he sighs shaking his head. “Of course I didn’t want to say or demonstrate anything with that name. I just think that Turks Nederlandse sounds better”. That’s why Armand doesn’t want to be accused to prefer German to English or Turkish to German. It shouldn’t take that long and then before summer TNS Erkin will have his multilingual homepage and contents
7
Main Sources http://www.utrecht.nl/images/Secretarie/Bestuursinformatie/Publicaties2003/Pdf/B evolking_2003_H4-2.pdf Statistics on the foreign population in Utrecht on 2003 http://www.meertens.nl/medewerkers/theo.meder/tcult/kasbah.html An article about the so called “Kasbah in de Kanaalstraat” (in Dutch) http://www.tnserkin.nl/ TNS Erkin – Utrecht http://www.eurasiasv.nl/sv/indx.php Eurasia SV – The Hague http://www.svanka.nl/ SV Anka – Deventer http://www.tusat.org/ Tusat – Twente http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10808408 The Economist on the Gülen Movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_in_the_Netherlands Turkish-Dutch people on Wikipedia http://english.justitie.nl/organisation/organisational-chart/Biography_Albayrak.aspx Nebahat Albayrak: State Secretary for Justice
8
