Avustralya’da Turkler ve Turkce Ogretimi (Turks and Teaching Turkish in Australia)

Abstract

The migration of Turks to Australia started in 1901 and by 1967 the increase was insignificant. The 2,476 migrants of Turkish birth origin recorded in the 1966 Australian statistics as the Turks from the Ottoman lands were mostly from Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Iraq and Syria. Following the 1967 Migration Agreement between Australia and Turkey, the number of Turkish migrants increased from 1967 to 1974.

Most of the Turks had no intention of settling in Australia. Those Turks who did not earn enough or for some other reasons could not return to Turkey brought up their sons and daughters, had them married and start a new life in Australia. This first generation and even their children, beyond feeling homesick, faced economic, social and health problems. Australian government, aware of these problems as well as the language and cultural barrier, sent a number of experts to Turkey to explore the ways of integrating the Turkish and Australian youth. However, the Turkish parents were not in favour of integration. The education of their children in English resulted in a generation gap, language and culture wise, between them and their children. This situation forced the Turks to clamp together in ghettos such as Auburn in Sydney and Broadmeadows in Melbourne.

Meanwhile with the initiative of Turkish communities a number of Turkish schools were opened in Sydney and Melbourne. This was followed by the Turkish Studies Unit as part of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (CAIS) at the Australian National University in 2003. These steps were taken to do away with the fears of Turkish community and promote interest in Turkish language, culture and history. This paper deals with the migration of Turks to Australia, their population and distribution to the cities as well as their cultural and social activities.