Merkel And Erdogan Mark 50 Years Of Turkish Immigration

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 02: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media following talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chancellery on November 2, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. Earlier in the day the two leaders attended a celebration to mark 50 years of Turkish immigration to Germany. On October 30, 1961 Turkey and what was then West Germany signed an agreement that paved the way for the migration of Turkish "guest workers" to Germany. Germany in the early 1960s, which in many ways was still recovering from the devastation of World War II, required foreign labour to fill its industrial workforce, and the influx of immigrants from Turkey, Italy, Greece and other south European countries made Germany’s "economic miracle" possible. Today large numbers of Germans with Turkish roots are an integral part of German society, though integration and assimilation remain a contentious issue, especially for more recent Turkish immigrants. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)