In the March 8 election in Baden-Württemberg, Green Party candidate Cem Özdemir came first, edging out the CDU, if only narrowly. So far, so unremarkable. The state has, after all, been governed by the Greens since 2011. But the picture changes when the victor, under the Green banner, is Cem Özdemir.
He is the child of a family that migrated from Turkey to Germany, and he is now on the verge of becoming state premier. Özdemir’s family moved to Germany in 1963 under the labor migration agreement that began in 1961. He was born in Germany in 1965. In fact, he has no direct connection to Turkey. His education, professional life, and political career all unfolded in Germany. Yet his family roots lie in Turkey.
GERMANY, THE BITTER HOMELAND
For those who went to Germany as migrants, the primary motivation was always economic: to find the decent income they could not earn in Turkey. At the beginning, it was hard. The traces of that struggle can be seen in art and literature. One of the most common expressions was “Germany, the bitter homeland.” They also called it “the doors of strangers.” Poems were written under that name, films were made. And yet they never gave up on Germany. Today, with the third and fourth generations, and with those who have acquired German citizenship, the number of people of Turkish origin there is estimated to have reached close to 4 million.
CEM ÖZDEMIR, ALWAYS GREEN
Özdemir is 60, and his political career goes back to the early 1980s. He served for many years as co-chair of the Greens. He has also held ministerial office. At times when he criticized Turkey’s democratic shortcomings and spoke up for Kurdish political movements, he drew more than his share of what could be called nationalist backlash. Claudia Roth, with whom he served as co-chair, was another figure who drew reactions of similar intensity. At one point, he was accused of using airline miles he had earned as a state parliament member for personal purposes and of taking a loan from a lobbying company. He resigned from all of his posts. But he returned shortly afterward and resumed his rise.
WHEN CEM ÖZDEMIR WINS, DOES TURKEY WIN TOO?
There is a Turkish expression that refers back to World War I. It invokes the alliance with Germany: “Because Germany was defeated, we too were counted among the defeated.” Naturally, the reverse of that phrase is also used in everyday life: “When Germany wins, do we count as having won too?” Now we may ask the question this way: “When Cem Özdemir wins, do we count as having won too?” Of course, for Özdemir to become a state premier as the child of immigrants is no small thing. But in the same state election, the far-right AfD doubled its vote to around 20 percent. That cannot be overlooked either. That is the greatest nightmare for immigrants.
