This archive report was first published on 8 December 2021.
December 8, 2021, marked a significant milestone in Germany's history as it appointed its first Turkish-German minister, Cem Özdemir, in a historic move. This appointment comes 60 years after Germany first invited Turkish workers to help rebuild the country after World War II.
Naika Foroutan, an immigration expert and professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin, described the appointment as a 'very special moment.' She noted that for many people in Germany, this appointment means that if Cem Özdemir can achieve his goals, they too can do the same.
However, many see this promotion as a reminder of how slow Germany has been in promoting members of ethnic minorities into positions of leadership. Professor Foroutan pointed out that it is 'almost absurd' that 60 years after the guest worker program was signed, Germany has only now appointed its first federal minister with migrant roots.
Germany has had a few ministers with overseas heritage before, but their backgrounds were not typical of most postwar migration to the country. Katarina Barley, a former justice minister, had a British father, while Philipp Rösler, who held several senior positions a decade ago, was born in Vietnam and adopted by a family in Germany at the age of 9 months.
Change has also been slow in the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament. Eleven percent of its newly elected lawmakers have a migration background, up from 8 percent previously, according to the Berlin-based Migration Media Service.
Cem Özdemir, 55, was born in Germany to Turkish parents four years after the first Turkish 'guest workers' arrived. His father had been a farmer in Turkey before emigrating to work in a German textile mill, while his mother worked as a tailor.
Mr. Özdemir has been in politics for almost three decades and won a seat in Parliament in 1994 at age 28, becoming the first lawmaker with Turkish roots in the country. He is now popular in Germany, having served as a co-leader of the Greens for almost a decade until 2018.
