Germans and Turks

German-Turkish relations form an integral backdrop to many of today’s most pressing political concerns, including the absorption of refugees from the Middle East in Europe, debates about coexistence with Muslims in Western societies, and European geopolitics in Western Asia. Yet the story of this relationship, its 800-year history and often fateful consequences, has never been fully told.

In this book, Stefan Ihrig presents the first history of the relationship of these two peoples, from the Middle Ages until today. It is a relationship that has had many twists and turns, from adversaries in the early modern conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Christian Central Europe to allies at the end of the nineteenth century and during WWI. In a way it is a story that shows that this is one of the longest-lasting relationships between peoples in Europe. It is also one that contradicts many of the basic tenets of Edward Said’s Orientalism. And, as Ihrig shows, it’s a relationship that surprises and confounds simplistic narratives. Far from one sided, the encounter between German and Turkish-speaking people over the centuries reveals a mutual fascination that stands in contrast to British, French or American interactions with the Middle East and North Africa.

The coda to this story is the now up to four million people of Turkish descent living in Germany. With modern Turkey taking an increasingly prominent role on the global stage and the German state the most powerful in the European Union, understanding the history of this complicated and dynamic relationship is more important than ever.