Melissa Çevikel
October
After a night out, when seeking debatably healthy food on a budget, or simply looking for an insightful conversation on world politics, we’ve probably all found ourselves inside a Turkish kebab shop at some point. Kebab shops can be found in almost every European city now, including Menton, which hosts two kebab shops. While this reality seems to be well accepted by the locals who enjoy an occasional dine-in in the shops, as a Turkish university student who had just moved abroad, I was pleasantly surprised to see my culture well integrated into the daily lives of Europeans. The aftermath of the post-1961 Turkish migration to Europe may not be very apparent to the untrained eye, but it's the reason why Turkish culture still lives on in these shops. This made me wonder how these Kebab shops emerged to be as successful and widespread as they are and, more importantly, to defy the reality of the newly proliferating European Islamophobia and xenophobia in the process.
To understand this, we first need to look at the history of Turkish migration, or “gurbet” (meaning absence from home) to Western Europe. On October 30th, 1961, Germany signed “The Recruitment Agreement”, which would allow for “state regulated labor migration” of 400 workers from Turkey to Germany in an attempt to aid its post-war economy and meet its needs for manpower. While a two-year duration of stay was originally allowed for the workers, it was later abolished and Turkish workers embraced Germany as their new home. This first generation of workers, who had imagined their return home would be happening soon, had to wait until the 1974 Family Reunification Act when they would be allowed to bring their children and spouses to Germany and reunite. In 1973 singer-songwriter Özdemir Erdoğan expressed the feelings of many such guest workers in his song “Gurbet” where he wrote the lines: “There is the wound of gurbet (absence from home) which is deeper than anything else / Tell me are there any news from home? / Or are these rains the tears of my lover.” The second wave of Turkish migration to Europe and Germany, more specifically, was during the 1980s due to the coup in Turkey and later during the 1990s due to the chaos arising from the fight against terrorism. Today there are 5.5 million Turks residing in Western European countries.
With the far right emerging in Western Europe, talks of disturbance against immigrants have begun to rise. Political figures such as Netherlands’ Geert Wilders and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (PVV) who are known for their open anti-immigrant and Islamophobic stance, have been looking for ways to stop the immigration and have recently stated they wished to opt out of immigration matters for Europe in the Netherlands. Nonetheless, many Turkish migrants in Europe are happy to be there. The report published by the Center for American Progress revealed that more than 70% of Turkish migrants in Europe were happy and planning to stay in their current country of residence, with around 19 to 20% of them thinking of returning. It's important to note that this study was conducted in 2020, before the 2023 presidential elections, so it is important to note that these results may not be fully accurate and reflective of people’s choices today.
Now that we have established how the Turkish community had immigrated to the EU we need to understand why they chose to work in and open kebab shops specifically. To understand this I interviewed kebab shop owners and employees of Turkish origin in the Netherlands and France, specifically Menton. The two people I interviewed (who wished to remain anonymous) ended up having very separate experiences that are not related to the country in which the kebab shops are located, but provide two very different perspectives on the business. The employee interviewed at “Bakkerij Bos en Lommerplein” in Amsterdam, Netherlands for example, who had lived there for the past six-to-seven years, said he had no opinions on the current state of Turkey and that he identified with Dutch culture much more than he did with Turkish. He also remarked that he had no plans to return to Turkey and has gotten very used to living in the Netherlands.
However, the kebab shop employee in Menton’s “Premium Kebab” gave a completely different perspective on living in a European country as a Turk. She said that despite having lived in France for more than 40 years she always identified as a Turk and did not feel French at all. Her father came to France when she was only nine years old, and she has lived here ever since. Her family has since returned to Turkey and she couldn’t wait to return once her children were old enough. When asked about her opinions on the current state of Turkey she responded by saying that she thought that people in France were in a much worse state than in Turkey and that the portrayal of Turks as “poor” in the media was exaggerated. It should be noted that the topic of economic welfare of Turkish immigrants in the EU is a very heated topic among the Turkish population and this was said in reference to that. Both of the kebab shop employees, however, agreed on the fact that the reason most people of Turkish origin got into the kebab business in the EU was because it was easy money since it was basically a Turkish monopoly—though it should be kept in mind that a big part of kebab shops are run by members of the Kurdish community as well. Neither was quite able to figure out exactly why kebab shops attracted so much of the EU youth, but they concluded that it was due to how unique and affordable Turkish food is.
To see kebab shops from the perspective of non-Turkish and European students, I also interviewed kebab enthusiast Sciences Pistes, asking them what attracted them to kebab shops and what they thought of kebab shop owners and employees. Across all responses, the hospitality of kebab shop owners was a persistent reason the respondents seemed attracted to them. Some also mentioned that kebab shops were seen as a healthy alternative to fast food on a budget and that the meat there was halal, a rare find in Europe. A unanimously mentioned stereotype was the kebab shop owners calling you “boss”, which some mentioned added an element of warmth to the dining visits. Lastly, when asked why, in their opinion, kebab shops were as popular as they were among the EU youth, most answered by saying that the significant presence of the Turkish diaspora in most countries filled the gap caused by the lack of alternative Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food places. Some also mentioned that the practicality of kebabs/wraps played a part in it as well as how accessible they were, taking into account both their price point and the fact that they usually are open well after midnight.
I think the place kebab shops hold for Turkish, Balkan, and Middle Eastern people, and especially students, is also worth mentioning. It’s always relieving to find a place that feels like home while you are on your own “gurbet” journey studying abroad, and finding that missing piece through people who are usually very helpful and kind makes this journey much easier. People working at kebab shops express the friendly qualities and warmth that international students are generally desperate to find in a new and unfamiliar environment. This makes kebab shops even more appealing to the student, serving relatively healthy and practical food that no one has figured out how to cook by themselves just yet. To conclude, there seem to be many aspects of kebab shops that attract the European youth. While for some, it is the price point and accessibility, for others, it is the coziness and hospitality of the shops. Though it is more than heartwarming to see others feel welcomed by my community through kebab shops just as I do, showing more interest in the lives of the people working there and acknowledging their “gurbet” stories will only help curate stronger bonds with the people who welcome us so dearly and help us out at times of desperation and hunger with a reassuring “yes boss,” interesting conspiracy theories about the EU and ever-evolving business plans.