Bochum marks 65 years of the labour recruitment deal with poems and songs
Bochum celebrated 65 years since the German-Turkish labour recruitment agreement with an evening of stories, poems and traditional Turkish folk songs.
Turkey and Germany signed the labour recruitment agreement (Anwerbeabkommen) on 30 October 1961. Now, 65 years later, the city of Bochum marked the anniversary with literature and music. North Rhine-Westphalia's family and integration ministry, the city of Bochum and several associations supported the event. Betül Bozdağ and İbrahim Eser hosted the evening.
The theme was "Migration and Literature". Writers and poets from ATYG (a Turkish-origin authors' group in Europe), the Fikir Atölyesi workshop and GEMI e.V. read their stories and poems. Retired teacher Kemal Yalçın of ATYG said Fakir Baykurt founded the group 40 years ago and that it now has 30 writers, poets and artists. "Migration changed all of us," Yalçın said. "Germany changed us, and we changed Germany."
The night ended with music. The Yola Türküler Rhein Peri Melodileri choir, led by İsmet Kılıç, got the room going with Turkish folk songs.
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