Turkish migration from the Republic of Turkey town of
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode Turkish migration from the
Republic of Turkey to
Belgium began in the 1960s when Belgium was actively encouraging immigration to meet its employment needs in an era of rapid economic expansion. These immigrants were welcomed as "
guest workers" when Belgium and Turkey signed a bilateral agreement in July 1964. As mainly unskilled labourers, Turkish immigrants hoped to make a fortune in a short time and then return to their homeland. The majority of Turkish migrants arrived from the
central Anatolian provinces of
Afyon (particularly from
Emirdağ),
Eskisehir,
Kayseri,
Konya (particularly from
Piribeyli) and
Sivas. Many settled in the industrialised areas of Belgium; thereafter, these migrants brought their families over when Belgium attempted to resolve the growing problem of low population by encouraging family reunification. By the 1970s the phenomenon of immigrants arriving in Belgium with a
tourist visa started; most came from
Afyon, especially from the town of
Emirdağ. Upon arrival they looked for work and tried to legalise their status as labourers. The presence of these tourists created a
black market labour force so that on two occasions the government had to legalise their status. Once they obtained the status of "guest workers" they could bring in their family. By the 1980s, immigration to Belgium for economic reasons was forbidden by law. The only legal way to take up residence in Belgium was by
family reunification, which was only applicable to members of the
nuclear family of guest workers or by marrying someone who was a
Belgian citizen. Another possible motive for coming to Belgium was to apply for the status of
asylum-seeker upon arrival. Turkish asylum seekers came from all over Turkey, with some belonging to minority groups. In the modern era, due to the political instability and
economic crisis, Turkish economic seekers moving to Belgium has doubled compared to the previous years while those for asking for asylum has tripled, from 660 to 1,243 and 673 to 1,721 respectively.
Turkish migration from the Balkans Bulgaria Initially,
Turkish Bulgarians first arrived in Belgium as refugees in the 1980s due to the
Bulgarisation policies of the so-called "
Revival Process" under the communist ruler
Todor Zivkov which sought to forcefully assimilate the Turkish minority. The next wave of Turkish Bulgarian migrants in the 1990s and early 2000s were mostly undocumented migrants. These early Turkish Bulgarian arrivals found work in areas where there was an established mainland Turkish community, especially in
Ghent, but also in
Melle,
Zele and
Hamme. More recently, after Bulgaria became a member of the
European Union during the
2007 enlargement, the number of Turkish Bulgarian migrants to Belgium increased significantly due to their
freedom of movement rights as
EU citizens. Thus, Turkish Bulgarian emigration to Belgium in the twenty-first century has been dictated by the economic situation and the stagnation of the labour market in Bulgaria. As a result of the continuous Turkish Bulgarian migration, the majority of Bulgarian citizens living in Belgium are ethnically Turkish; moreover, Turkish Bulgarian children who were either born in Belgium, or who arrived at preschool age, hardly understand the
Bulgarian language. Thus, "Genk Bulgarians" are mostly of Turkish origin; The first wave of Turkish Western Thracian migration started in the 1960s and intensified further between 1970-2010 due to political and economic reasons. Although many Western Thrace Turks living in Western Europe intended to return to Greece after working for a number of years, the Greek government used Article 19 of the 1955
Greek Constitution to strip members of the Turkish minority living abroad of their
Greek citizenship. According to Article 19 of the Greek Constitution: A report published by the
Human Rights Watch in 1990 confirmed that: Thus, many Western Thrace Turks were forced to remain in the countries they had settled in, which, in turn, also established the permanent Turkish Western Thracian community in Belgium.
North Macedonia The
Turkish Macedonian minority have joined other
Macedonian citizens in migrating to Belgium. Together with the
Turkish Kosovars in Belgium, the Turkish Macedonians are active in the
Belçika Rumeli Türkleri Derneği ("Belgian Rumelian Turkish Association").
Turkish migration from the Levant Cyprus Most
Turkish Cypriot migrants left the island of
Cyprus due to economic and political reasons in the 20th century, especially after the
Cyprus crisis of 1963–64 and then the
1974 Cypriot coup d'état carried out by the
Greek military junta which was followed by the
Turkish invasion of the island. More recently, with the
2004 enlargement of the European Union, Turkish Cypriots have had the
right to live and work across the
European Union, including in Belgium, as
EU citizens. In 2012, hundreds of Turkish Cypriots gathered in
Brussels to draw attention to the EU's failure to keep the promises made to
Northern Cyprus after having voted in favour of reunification during the
2004 Annan Plan referendum. The
TRNC provides assistance to its Turkish Cypriot residents living in Belgium via the TRNC Brussels Representative Office located in
Avenue Louise; in addition,
the office promotes friendly relations between the TRNC and Belgium, as well as economic and cultural relations.
Iraq Turkish Iraqis have settled in Belgium due to various conflicts in
Iraq, including the
Iran–Iraq War (1980-88), the
Gulf War (1991), and the
Iraq War (2003-11). The majority of Iraqi Turks have arrived in Belgium during the
European migrant crisis (2014-19) alongside other Iraqi refugees.
Syria Due to the
Syrian civil war, many
Syrian Turks have sought refuge in
Turkey and
Western Europe. In particular, it was during the
European migrant crisis (2014-19) that Syrian citizens came to Belgium in larger numbers.
Turkish migration from the modern diaspora In addition to ethnic Turkish people that have migrated to Belgium from post-Ottoman modern nation-states, there has also been an increasing migration wave from the modern
Turkish diaspora. For example, members of the
Turkish Dutch community have also arrived in Belgium as Dutch citizens. According to a study by Petra Wieke de Jong, focusing on second-generation Turkish-Dutch people specifically born between the years 1983 and 1992 only, 1,208 people from this age group and generation reported Belgium as their country of emigration in 2001 to 2017. A further 1,761 people in this group did not report their emigration destination. == Demographics ==