Abstract

The Turks constitute the largest foreign community in Germany, as their population exceeds three and a half million people. This is important due to the passing of time as they obtained German citizenship, with a number, according to the latest statistics, that reached about one million two hundred and fifty thousand, where they enjoy their social, cultural, economic and political rights as first-class citizens. The research sheds light on the details of the political situation of Turks in Germany through three axes. The first includes the racist crimes they suffer from and the impact of such crimes on the future of Turkish society there. The second axis includes their participation in political life by voting in elections, joining parties, running for federal and local parliamentary elections, and establishing parties to express their aspirations and participation in German political decision-making. Whereas the third axis deals with Turkey's relationship with its citizens in Germany and its attempt to employ them to serve its interests and relations with Germany. The importance of the research is to explore the possibility of the Turks to form a pressure group (lobby) that serves the national interests of their mother country within the framework of Turkish-German relations in an era when soft power plays an active role in regulating international relations.