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Analyse of the Turkish migration to Australia (Melbourne in particular) from the 1960’s to the
late 1990’s and discussing the hardest part of migrating to Australia.
i
After the World Wars Turks in Australia were interned as enemy aliens and as a result from the Battle of
Gallipoli, a government reform passed through the parliament – the Enemy Allies Act. The 1920 Enemy Allies
Act prohibited more Turks entering Australia for five years, and Asiatic Turks continued to be prohibited from
entry to Australia under the White Australia Policy. ii However, most Turks were classified as European rather
than Asiatic therefore were able to immigrate. Immigration from Turkey to Australia declined in the first half of
the 1980’s but then resumed in the second half due to high inflation and unemployment in Turkey. iii Since
significant encounter between Turks and Australians since the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. v
A NEW BEGINNING: THE BILATERAL AGREEMENT
and Citizen.
The bilateral agreement provided assisted passage to Turkish migrants. This also helped to build Australia’s
population and expand its workforce. Around 19,000 assisted Turkish migrants arrived in Australia between
1968 and 1974.vii Members from the Cypriot Turkish Association and the Australian Islamic Federation were
waiting for the new Turkish migrants to arrive at the Sydney Airport. This was a moment of victory for the
Cypriots because they now had their own people with them and each year the
numbers were increasing. The Turkish people were also grateful as they
everything together. They all went through hell, Figure 4 Ferda Şahin’s House in Brunswick
in the factories, in the streets. They didn’t know anything. They never had any Australian friends. Australians
didn’t like visiting or inviting others as they did. The Turks enjoyed each other’s company and visited each
other a lot. ix Housing was also cheap in those areas, so they preferred to acquire housing there. Additionally,
construction of one of Melbourne’s earliest mosques was built in Coburg in the year 1972 and as practising
Muslims that was one of the greatest impacts to choose Coburg as their residential place. x Many of the
suburb. xi
Although Turks coming to Australia were classified as permanent settlers and the Turkish Minister of Labour Ali
Naili Erdem rejected the idea that Turks were only coming to Australia for a limited time only xii, many of the
migrants began their journey here in Australia believing that it only short-term. Majority of migrants planned
to work, save money and return to their homeland. However, that did not happen. It wasn’t as easy as they
dreamt. The migrants mainly came in their early adulthood and they had formed their families here. They had
children and thought it was best for their children to seek education in this country rather than back home. As
their children grew older, it was near impossible to settle back in Turkey. The migrants had labelled Australia
as home. They created their families here, they formed many friendships, they bought their homes and cars in
this country. They invested for the future for their children in this country. They were living the “Australian
There were days where they did not even see their
from life. His finance at the time was also from Turkey but was living
in Australia with her family. Ferda, sacrificed his life and his own
change his life over to such a degree where he had to start all over,
but it was a matter of fact of pleasing his wife and trying to keep her
happy and in all respects didn’t want her to be away from her
family. Have you ever witnessed a person that sacrificed his whole
Figure 7 Ferda and Gönül Şahin at their wedding day,
1992
life for his significant other and future with his children? Well I have,
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART OF MIGRATING AS A YOUNG MAN IN THE 1990’S?
Ferda Sahin lived a bewildering life here in Australia. As the only son and the youngest child of the family, he
flew away from the nest to start a new beginning. Starting a new life did have
how to be independent. He learnt that one doesn’t always get what he or she
desires from life. He learnt that he had to work hard to live and to look after
his family. And most importantly, he learnt that homesickness wasn’t the way
and a father of two. He understood that he had to nurture and love his own
family more. The love in his heart, the warmth and the compassion were now
mainly for his wife and children. Although, he still maintains a strong
relationship with his family overseas, he admits that this was his destiny and
Figure 8 Ferda Şahin aged 5, 1973 he is grateful every day for the blessings God has showered him with.
EMPLOYMENT
Most of the Turks were working in factories at the time as it was reported that 25 percent of the Turks were
skilled, and 75 percent were unskilled.xiii The Australian Government granted jobs to immigrants in favour of
their hard work and resilience. The Turks were working extremely hard because their wage was low, and they
had huge responsibilities such as paying the rent for their house, saving up for a car and most importantly
trying to save up for their return ticket back to Turkey. The factories that the Turks mainly worked in were
Ericsson Pty Ltd, the Chef Email factory (rephrased as Ocak Fabrıkası by the Turkish), Nonferral: a copper and
aluminium factory and lastly the Ford Motor Company. xivDue to the unfortunate happenings in the Battle of
Gallipoli, there was a stereotype against the Turks living in Australia. However, the Turks always completed
their designated tasks and jobs with diligence and that was acknowledged by the Department of Immigration.
In 1971, the 4th of June, the Department of Immigration Canberra, released a statement to express gratitude
record…” xv
Along with the satisfaction and welfare that came along with employment, it was scary because my father,
Ferda Şahin, just like any other migrant did not know what to expect. He was twenty-two years old when he
left Turkey and didn’t have any experience working apart from hospitality during his secondary years. In 1992,
only after twenty-five days of arriving to Melbourne, he was employed at the Chef Email factory (Ocak
Fabrıkası) and began working straight away. It was a new challenge for him. His lack of English was a purpose
of entertainment for English-speaking labourers in the workforce. He mainly had to use body language and use
his hands to symbolise what he wanted to say. There were a few Turks that understood the language and
helped each other out but when they were not around, life was tough. They were working individually but that
did not stop the bullying or the verbal abuse that occurred. The management was happy to see these migrants
working harder than the Australians, however, they weren’t always present, so co-workers took advantage of
“They would always laugh at us and make fun of us because we didn’t understand their language. We were
afraid that they would keep laughing so we couldn’t even ask for help when we needed to”
My father migrated to Australia to live a better life with my mother. Australia offered better opportunities
than Turkey at the time, so it was reasonable for my father to come to Australia. He was aware that everything
around him was going to change and that he was going to face challenges.
Obviously, he wasn’t forced into anything. However, the effort to start a family in a new challenge did some
severe outcomes. He didn’t have a choice. His background was Turkish and only spoke that language. As he
was also a high-school graduate he did not have further study in English and that led him to struggle quite a
lot. Although, he was putting in the effort to learn and adapt to the language, it wasn’t that easy.
“If there is one thing that I learnt about migration it is that one must educate him/herself. If you educate
yourself, you will always be able to stand up for yourself and speak up. If you are a victim of something, you will
easily be able to defend yourself. You will be able to protect the ones around you. You wouldn’t be experiencing
the hardships that I faced. If you really want to achieve something and succeed in life, really chase after your
dreams and work hard. Hard work will always pay off and people will learn to respect you.”
My father didn’t have any knowledge of the English language so in the workforce when he was a victim of
bullying and segregation, he didn’t have a choice to stand up for himself he lacked the basics of the language.
“I felt like I was in a deserted island. Or like an abandoned forest, surrounded by cannibals, they were staring at
me with hate and disgust and were ready to bite my head off.” xvi
The notion of loneliness and isolation was a mutual feeling amongst all the migrants. Some had left their
partners behind, some left their children and others like my father left their family behind. Despite having my
mother and her family in Australia, my father felt incomplete. He had left behind his parents, siblings and
friends. He did not know anyone from here. He was dealing with the endeavour of living in a foreign country
with no knowledge of the language or any societal norms and expectations. There was a huge cultural diversity
between the Aussies and the Turks and it took a while for my father to get used to the Australian way of living.
Figure 10 Ferda Şahin with his family and wife's family, 2003.
LETTERS
The main form of communication was via writing letters. These letters are quite significant because I can feel
my father’s emotions strongly. In fact, it is quite sorrowful because it seems as though his family is drifting
apart. Writing letters did take time and when one side didn’t reply to a letter as soon as they received it the
other side feels as though they have been forgotten. And that is a feeling that no one should ever have to
experience.
your wife. Never upset each other and always shower each
also devastated that no one from his family was there with him on his wedding day. This reflects back
on his loneliness and the isolation he felt. A major consequence of migrating to another country.
“My son Ferda,
jobs. I am kissing both of you, and especially my grandson Furkan. Your mother also sends her regards and
Due to the low wage that migrants used to receive, it was difficult to go overseas. It would take them
as long as five to six years or even more to save up and go to Turkey to see family and relatives. Due
to their Islamic background, they couldn’t celebrate Eid in Turkey in the traditional way. Celebrating
festivities like that would be disappointing because migrants really don’t have any family members
with them. Along with Eid, they had to celebrate New Year’s Eve separate from their families and
sending postcards to each other was a compassionate way to remember one another. xviii
“Ferda, in your letter that you wrote for me you reproached
know but writing letters take too much time. You think that I
aloneness and hearing back from his family not only upset
him but also worried him. These letters were how they
Figure 13 A Letter from Ferda Şahin's Older Sister,
1994. continued their communication. It was how they explained
steps, the room you slept in, it’s really missed. The
dearly.”
“The hardest part of migration was not knowing what life was going to be like. I left all my family behind. I was
living in a foreign country which I had no information about. I missed my family a lot during my twenty-six
years of living in Australia. I still do miss them a lot. Everyday. It was much difficult at the beginning though.
The only form of communication I had was writing letters to my family. Ringing them really wasn’t an option. It
was too expensive then. It was around two to three dollars per minute of dialling overseas. And only my older
sister had a telephone. So, I couldn’t get in touch with my parents for a long time. I used to write a letter every
week to my parents. But it would take more than three weeks for the letters to be delivered and at times it
would take a month or two to write a letter back. My only motivation and hope were checking the mailbox for
a letter every day. Those letters meant everything to me. It was difficult to visit my family in Turkey, but those
letters made it a bit more bearable. I felt my family’s presence in those letters. I smelt my mother’s smell
through those letters and my father’s determination to stay strong through those letters. Those letters gave me
iii
Australian Government: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2014), <
https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/02_2014/turkey.pdf> accessed 5 October 2018.
iv
Australian Government: Department of Home Affairs, Fact Sheet – Overview of Family Stream Migration
[website], < https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/29overview-
family#fsc> accessed. 5 October 2018.
v
Hatice Hurmuz Basarin & Vecihi Basarin, The Turks in Australia: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Down Under
(Victoria, Australia: Turquoise Publications, 1993), xi.
vi
Work Permit, Australia Celebrates Turkish Migration [website], (2007)
http://workpermit.com/news/australia-celebrates-turkish-migration-20070810 accessed. 5 October 2018.
vii
Peggy Giakoumelos: SBS, Australia Marks 50 years of Turkish Migration [website] (2018), <
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-marks-50-years-of-turkish-migration> accessed 22 October 2018.
viii
More Turkish Migrants, Canberra Times, 12 February 1969, 11.
ix
Hatice Hurmuz Basarin & Vecihi Basarin, The Turks in Australia: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Down Under
(Victoria, Australia: Turquoise Publications, 1993), 69.
x
Turkey, The Age, 24 July 2005, 1.
xi
Ibid.
xii
Turkish Numbers ‘Not Decided’, Canberra Times, 28 September 1967, 9.
xiii
Ibid.
xiv
Ferda Şahin, ‘Ferda Şahin interviewed by Sky Şahin [sound recording] (2018).
xv
Department of Immigration Canberra A.C.T, Statement on Turkish Migrant Families in Melbourne [news
release], 4 June 1971, Parliament of Australia,
<https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/HPR04002553/upload_binary/HPR04002553.
pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22turkish%20migrants%201970s%22> accessed. 5 Oct. 2018.
xvi
Ferda Şahin, ‘Ferda Şahin interviewed by Sky Şahin [sound recording] (2018).
xvii
Ibid.
xviii
Ibid.
xix
Ibid.
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Abdurrahman & Ayşe Şahin, ‘Postcard’ [postcard to Ferda and Gönül Şahin], 31 Dec. 1993.
Ferda Şahin, ‘Ferda Şahin interviewed by Sky Şahin [sound recording] (2018).
National Archives of Australia: Australian News and Information Bureau, Middle East States Turkey Signing
Australia/Turkish Migration Agreement, A1200: L65408, 1967 (Canberra).
National Archives of Australia: Australian News and Information Bureau, Middle East States Turkey Signing
Australia/Turkish Migration Agreement, A1200: L65405, 1967 (Canberra).
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA),
Immigration Migrants in Employment Factory Production Turks at Ericsson Pty Ltd, North Coburg, A12111:
1/1971/16/137, 1971 (Canberra).
National Archives of Australia: Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA),
Immigration – Migrants Arrivals In Australia – First Turkish Assisted Passage Migrants Arrive At Sydney,
A12111: 1/1968/4/25, 1968.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
Australian Government: Department of Home Affairs, Fact Sheet – Overview of Family Stream Migration
[website], < https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/29overview-
family#fsc> accessed. 5 October 2018.
Basarin H & Basarin V, The Turks in Australia: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years Down Under (Victoria, Australia:
Turquoise Publications, 1993).
Department of Immigration Canberra A.C.T, Statement on Turkish Migrant Families in Melbourne [news
release], 4 June 1971, Parliament of Australia,
<https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/HPR04002553/upload_binary/HPR04002553.
pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22turkish%20migrants%201970s%22> accessed. 5 Oct. 2018.
Giakoumelos P: SBS, Australia Marks 50 years of Turkish Migration [website] (2018), <
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-marks-50-years-of-turkish-migration> accessed 22 October 2018.