The majority of Germans with a Turkish background – 57 percent – have their own income, revealed the study, carried out by Berlin-based research institute Info and published in the Handelsblatt newspaper. Seventeen percent receive social support.
Info director Holger Liljeberg attributed the transactions to Turks’ “very strong” connection to their homeland. The study also found that some 18 percent of German Turks send goods and food to their friends and relatives – at an average value of €250 a year.
Altogether that amounts to around €90 million in goods and a billion euros in money.
Around half of the 1,000 German Turks asked in the survey said they owned property either in Germany or Turkey, while a third had property in Turkey.
“These figures also underscore the desire of many Turks to make provisions should they move back to Turkey one day,” said Liljeberg.
The study also found that the strong connection to Turkey led many to travel there on a regular basis. “On average the Turks in Germany travel to Turkey 1.9 times a year,” said Liljeberg, adding that one in four Turks travel to Turkey three or four times a year.
“The strong family connections guarantee lively traffic between the two countries, and ensure that contacts don’t break,” he said.
The Local/bk
via German Turks ‘send a billion euros to Turkey’ – The Local.
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