Turks in the United Kingdom
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Turkish people in the United Kingdom are either Turkish people who live in the United Kingdom even though having been born outside the UK, or are British-born, but have Turkish roots. By Turkish roots, this could mean roots linking back to Turkey, Cyprus (both South and North) or the communities of the Turkish diaspora.
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[edit] History
The first wave of Turkish immigrants were Turkish Cypriots, who fled Cyprus because it became unstable to live there, to seek refuge in the UK. Since then, the number of Turkish immigrants has been increasing, and there are currently 200,000 Turkish people living in Britain, mostly in London.
The most recent wave started soon after the military coup on the Turkish mainland by General Kenan Evren in 1980. The harsh repression that followed forced many people out of the country. Poets, artists, intellectuals, journalists, political opponents of the regime, but also ordinary people.
[edit] Integration
Many Cypriot and Turkish migrants were either forced to migrate as either political refugees or economic migrants. In the last five decades, Turkish and Turkish Cypriot businesses have been established in Britain. A few well-noted Turkish/Turkish Cypriot businesses are sectored in food (TFC, JJ Fast Food, Yaşar Halim Supermarket, etc.), hair and fashion (Show II), etc., but Turkish businesses can be found in any sector. The community have also developed cohesive support groups (e.g., ITDF).
Many in the Turkish speaking communities have successfully settled in different parts of London: Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, Croydon in the south, Haringey, Enfield, Islington and Hackney in the north.
This successful integration of Turkish immigrants in London didn’t come without effort. The first and biggest barrier they had to face was proficiency in the English language. The help provided by the community groups to tackle this problem has been invaluable.
[edit] Notable people
- Tracey Emin
- Hussein Chalayan, fashion designer
- Kemal İzzet, footballer
- Muzzy İzzet, footballer
- Stanley Johnson
- Boris Johnson
- Ömer Rıza
- Abs Breen, musician, famously a member of the boy band 5ive
- Fatima Whitbread, javelin thrower
