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Corresponding Author

Özlem Seyhan

Document Type

Original Study

Keywords

Political History, Migration, Belonging, Paid Military Service, Germany, Federal Germany Paid Military Service Initiative.

Abstract

At the end of the 1950s, when Germany entered a period of economic development, a need arose for labor to work in industry and mining. Having lost a large portion of its young population in the World Wars, Germany began recruiting workers from abroad through agreements with various countries. In this context, an agreement was made with Türkiye in 1961, and Turkish workers were sent to Germany on various dates. Turkish workers who started working in a country that was completely different culturally, geographically and religiously and then took their families with them had to struggle with various social and economic problems. The education and military service of young people have become much-discussed issues in the context of expatriation. In this study, the military service problem and paid military service of second-generation workers living in Germany are discussed. Criticisms of the paid military service law enacted in 1980 and the work of the association called the Federal German Paid Military Service Initiative (FEBAG) were examined in detail. In this study, the approach of immigrants who struggle with belonging and cultural distance to economic and social issues, why there are objections to the paid military service fee and what suggestions are offered are discussed. It was observed that the association sought solutions to the problems of Turks living in Germany, starting from the military service issue, and tried to create a public space. The primary sources for this study are FEBAG's activities and its main news bulletin, the Bedel newspaper. Additionally, archive documents, newspapers of the period and various copyrighted works were consulted.

Receive Date

10 December 2025

Accept Date

05 February 2026

Publication Date

3-31-2026

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