Turkey

The military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel has brought great suffering to the people of Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, and according to UN figures about 425,000 people have fled to Syria (as at 22 October 2024), a country that is itself experiencing civil war. Among these refugees are Syrians who had sought refuge in Lebanon to escape the civil war raging in their own country, as well as Lebanese and Palestinian refugees.

People can barely meet their basic needs as a result of the violent conflict that has been going on for 13 years now and the resulting humanitarian emergency. Syria already has the largest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide with more than seven million people.

Even before the current displacement crisis began, the BMZ had been supporting projects to meet people’s basic needs in the regions in Syria where the displaced people from Lebanon are now arriving. These projects are already taking into account the needs of refugees and IDPs, including their respective host communities. They are now being expanded in collaboration with the United Nations and Syrian civil society in order to meet the newly emerging needs.

In the current crisis, the BMZ is supporting the people who have fled Lebanon as well as IDPs and host communities and providing them with essential supplies and services. A particular focus is on families and children: we are delivering psychological first aid for children and parents through UNICEF, for example, and supporting schools in Syria so they can take in more children by creating temporary learning spaces, rehabilitating damaged classrooms and distributing learning materials.

In collaboration with UNDP we are creating temporary jobs for refugees that benefit their host communities. This enables refugees to secure their own livelihoods, supports particularly vulnerable groups and mitigates the additional pressure on host communities. Moreover, we are assisting with the rehabilitation of health centres and supplying critical public infrastructure with solar energy.

The BMZ is providing an additional 22 million euros for support measures in acute emergency situations.

Turkey is an important link between Europe and Asia, as well as with the Islamic world. It is regarded as an emerging country, with an economy that has shown very dynamic performance over the past few years. Turkey also plays an important geopolitical role, since it borders on several regions that are prone to tensions, such as the Balkans, the Caucasus Region as well as the Near and Middle East.

Garland with small flags of Turkey — Straight to

Germany's development cooperation with Turkey began in 1958 and came to an end with a last commitment in 2008.

Currently, Germany helps Turkey cope with the refugees streaming into the country to escape the war in Syria.

However, there are no plans to resume a regular programme of bilateral development cooperation.

German activities Education and employment

Since 2015, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has provided around 801 million euros in total for structure-building activities to help support Syrian refugees and Turkish communities which have taken in refugees.

School education and vocational education

The BMZ focuses its interventions to support refugees and hosting communities on the areas of school education and vocational education and training, on employment promotion, and on strengthening social cohesion. For instance, efforts are being made to provide education so that there is no “lost generation” of Syrian refugee children – in other words, a generation of Syrian children who have known nothing but war and have so little education that they have virtually no prospect of a decent life. It is hoped that offering youngsters educational opportunities will also prevent them from becoming radicalised.

Violence prevention and social exchange are crosscutting issues of the BMZ’s activities. The fact that both the refugees and Turkish host communities benefit from the interventions helps to strengthen the exchange between the groups and prevent ill will.

Vocational education and training and measures to build professional skills serve as a launchpad into working life and a life that is independent of external support. Since mid-2016, opportunities for employment in the short and the long term are being created as part of the Partnership for Prospects so as to ensure that families can provide for themselves and have a viable option to stay in their home country. One of the BMZ's most important partners in implementing these activities is the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.

Jobs campaign

The employment promotion programmes supported by Germany are directed not only at refugees but also at locals who are finding it difficult to find a job because of the inflow of refugees. For instance, under “cash-for-work” programmes people can earn a quick income by taking on basic tasks in their communities such as helping with repairs, waste disposal or the maintenance of public buildings and green spaces.

Other employment promotion programmes help to fund wages or salaries, in particular for additional teaching staff. Employment promotion measures helped to create helped to create more than 100,00 jobs since the start of the programme in 2016 and education has been provided for almost 350,000 children.

Activities involving the EU

In addition to the German government's bilateral activities in Turkey, Germany is also involved in the European activities being carried out under the action plan agreed by the EU and Turkey in November 2015 and under the EU-Turkey statement issued in March 2016. The measures are being coordinated closely in order to avoid duplicate structures and to ensure added value.

The Federal Republic of Germany is contributing to the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey as well as other measures, and is a member of the group coordinating the measures agreed between the European Union and Turkey.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also active in Turkey.

Teacher and students in the UNICEF school in Adana

More than half of the Syrian refugees in Turkey are children and young people. Some 40 per cent of these youngsters have no opportunity to attend regular school classes. This means they are deprived of the opportunity to return to a normal daily routine and develop new hope for the future.

Street scene in Öncüpinar at the Turkish-Syrian border

The majority of Syrian refugees in Turkey live outside the official camps, mostly in towns and villages in the south-east of the country. Local and international non-governmental organisations have set up community centres there offering educational activities as well as advisory and support services to the refugees.

Current situation

In order to prepare for the desired accession to the European Union, the Turkish government began in 2002 to introduce numerous reform steps with regard to the rule of law and the respect for human rights. However, under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidency these reform-oriented policies have stalled.

Syrian refugees in a camp in Nizip, Turkey

The crisis in Syria has been influencing Turkey's domestic and foreign policies for some time now. A number of terrorist attacks and violent incidents along the country's borders are evidence that the conflict is having a direct impact on Turkey's security.