Since the History of Today the Image of Turks in the Germans Collective Memory and Reflection in the Media

The conquest of istanbul, the capital of the eastern roman empire, by the turks in 1453 caused the europeans to embrace an idea of establishing a unity against the turkish threat. for that reason, the thesis – which asserts that the idea of the european union was organized against the threat coming from the east of europe and it was aimed to establish the political safety of europe in this aspect – has become an accepted thesis today. apart from these prejudices and fears rooted in history, prejudices which emerged with the migration of turkish workers also formed a negative image about “turkey and turks” in the german public opinion. the emphasis on the unity of europe was set forth against the turkish threat. as samuel huntington asserts in his “the clash of civilizations” theory, christianity was defined as the opposite of islam. moreover, this fact is a very old argument that dates back to the period of the “crusades”. in addition, there is a concern that turkey will play an active role in the decisions of the european union due to the fact that the country will have a right of representation in the european parliament (ep) in proportion to its population if it is accepted into the european union. as a response to the possible integration of turkey into the european union, by hiding the real reasons for the problems created by the economic crisis, both the prejudices coming from the history and the prejudices emerged with the migration of turkish workers are used in the representation of turkey and turks in order to create a negative public opinion in the media.