Firstly, we know that the migrants themselves were forced to deal with the development of

their religious spaces on their own and as religious communities grew, so did their spaces.
Thomson-Vierra notes that for many Turkish Muslims in Germany, Mosques were not only a
place of religious practice, but also a place of social support for the community. It is also
important to note the impact particularly for women and children, as German language
classes were offered in larger Mosques which allowed them to develop their language skills
and aided their integration. The Mosque was also a place of cultural connection for many
Turkish migrants, even if they weren’t religious. Classes were run entirely in Turkish which
sought to teach the second generation about their heritage as many had never even visited
Turkey nor understood their background.

This strengthened the Turkish diaspora in a place that simultaneously taught them about their
religion in the so-called “Koranschulen” established in many mosques which made migrants
see them as a place of shared experience and somewhere to grow closer to their community.
However, it must also be mentioned that due to the closed nature of these spaces, some saw
Mosques as a reminder that they were living in a foreign country which contributed to their
feelings of social isolation. This was particularly the case with nonreligious Migrants who
saw the Mosque as a symbol of community rather than an intrinsic part of their lives.
However, I would argue that these feelings of ostracization were by and large a fault of the
government who disregarded their individual identities.

Both the German and Turkish governments encouraged the immigration of Gastarbeiter
primarily for economic benefits. The Germans saw them as a source of quick and cheap
labour, while the Turks saw them as a means of economic growth through remittances and
eventual return, resulting in a "brain gain" for their homeland. This disregard for
individuality, more specifically religious beliefs hugely delayed integration and I will now
play an excerpt from a 2010 Interview with Helmut Schmidt on the Beckmann show, in
which he discusses this and the topic of Islam during his term as Chancellor of the SPD from
1974-1982. He is a particularly important figure in this time period, as he oversaw the
migration of many Gastarbeiter and the growing presence of Islam in West Germany.

As we have just heard, Schmidt highlights the dismissal of the government and their former
lack of consideration, but it’s important to note that the establishment of the Islamic republic
in 1979 and the growing number of Muslims in West Germany were the only reasons that this
topic was even acknowledged. However, once it was finally acknowledged, right-wing media
outlets in West Germany began demonizing core aspects of Muslim life which Thomson-
Vierra comments on, saying that Koranschulen, a communal space for migrant children to
learn about their religion in German Mosques, were now being portrayed as places of
radicalization.

This is emphasised by the 1982 article titled “Wie Integration verhindert wird: Koranschulen
sind Brutstätten für Ressentiments,” by SPD Representative Thomas Schroer, where, in light
of the rise of the fascist Turkish "Grey Wolves", he basically argues that this group were
infiltrating Koranschulen and making them a breeding ground for political difference and a
threat to German secular values and society as a whole. These harmful narratives together
with a general lack of cultural experience for many Germans fuelled dangerous attitudes and
behaviours towards Turkish Muslims and posed them as targets of violence, leading to
multiple xenophobic hate crimes being committed across the country. In order to highlight
the socio-cultural repercussions this had, I will now play a short excerpt from an interview
with Turkish Migrant Serap Güpler in 2021, in which she discusses her own experience with
these stereotypes.

This highlights the ostracization faced by Gastarbeiter in Germany and shows how the
government's lack of support for their comprehensive integration fuelled Islamophobia and
hindered their assimilation. This resulted in many migrants feeling unsafe to such an extent
that returning to their home countries was considered an easier option than fighting to
integrate their religious identity into German society.

As observed in this section, the topic of religion is vital when examining the shared
experience of Turkish Muslims who fought to establish their identities in a society that only
saw them for their economic benefit. The stark perseverance to establish their religious
identities by building mosques and creating spaces to allow for diasporas to grow
successfully cultivated a shared experience for many migrants and enriched the livelihoods of
those who were not receiving any governmental support. From Koranschulen to language and
culture classes, the symbol of the Mosque was fundamental for the eventual integration of
many Turkish Muslims and although these spaces sometimes contributed to feelings of social
isolation, I would argue that this was exacerbated by lacking external support and
understanding from the German government towards Islam which contributed not only both
internally and externally to the issues Gastarbeiter faced in their assimilation into German
Society but also in the perpetuation of false narratives adopted by media outlets depicting
religious spaces as a threat to German society, which complicated their religious integration
and strengthened the socio-cultural divide.