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The well-known Turkish folk-pop singer Ramazan Kubat during the music festival. © FPS Foreign affairs
In 1964 – 60 years ago – Belgium concluded migration agreements with Türkiye and Morocco. Since then, the Turkish and Moroccan communities have made an indispensable contribution to our country. To commemorate the event, our Consulate General in Istanbul organised a music festival featuring Belgian Turks, including Hadise, who have achieved fame in Türkiye. Our embassy in the Moroccan capital Rabat also supported a variety of events.
After World War II, Belgium's economy experienced explosive growth. That growth was of such magnitude that the country's own population could not meet the demand for labour. For that reason, the Belgian government concluded migration agreements – in fact employment deals - with various countries in order to attract ‘guest workers’. The first of those countries was Italy (in 1946), followed by Spain (in 1956) and Greece (in 1957), amongst others.
Migration agreements in 1964
In 1964, Belgium concluded migration agreements with Türkiye (on 16 July) and Morocco (on 18 February). After that, thousands of Turks and Moroccans moved to our country, attracted by the flexible migration conditions and the prospect of work. Many of them got jobs in coal mines, while others found employment in sectors including the textile and metalworking industries, for example.
These two waves of migration greatly changed the face of our country. Exact figures are unknown, but it is estimated that the Turkish diaspora – Turks and the descendants of Turkish migrants – in our country numbers between 200,000 and 300,000 people. The community of people of Moroccan origin is said to include more than 700,000 people.
Music festival in Istanbul
Our Consulate General in Istanbul took the 60th anniversary of the migration agreement with Türkiye as an opportunity to highlight the close ties that exist between the two countries. In the grounds of the prestigious Bilgi University, it organised a summer music festival with a highly original angle – all of the musicians taking part had Belgian roots.
After all, quite a few Belgian Turks have actually returned to their ‘country of origin’ and have become successful there – while not denying their Belgian roots. In many cases, the people of Türkiye are not even aware that these ‘famous Turks’ actually have a connection with Belgium. By highlighting that connection, our Consulate General was able to highlight the success stories that have resulted from Belgian-Turkish migration.

Our consul general Tim Van Anderlecht (far right) interviews Hadise (2nd from the right). Next to her is the Belgian ambassador Paul Huynen. © FPS Foreign affairs
A superstar with Belgian roots
One of the musicians performing at the festival was Ramazan Kubat, a folk singer who was born in Antwerp and is now a big name in Turkish folk-pop. Another was Doğukan Manço, a DJ and singer who was born in Liège as the son of Baris Manço, one of Türkiye's most influential pop musicians. Then there was Ali Pinar, an actor and singer who received his primary and secondary education in Brussels. And finally Ramazan Sesler, the son of the legendary Turkish clarinettist Selim Sesler.
In between each of the performances, other Belgian Turks who have become famous in Türkiye were interviewed. The notable figures who were interviewed included Mahinur Göktaş, Türkiye's current Minister of Family Affairs and the only woman in President Erdoğan's government, and none other than the superstar Hadise, a singer who was born in Mol and represented Türkiye at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009.
The Belgian-Turkish artists Karl Talip and Jeroen Demoen also donated 17 works to be auctioned for the victims of the earthquake in eastern Türkiye. In total, the amount collected came to just under 5,000 euros.
Over 1,500 visitors attended the festival. They also had an opportunity to discover a wide range of Belgian and Turkish dishes and provisions were also made for children during the event.

View of the audience. © FPS Foreign affairs
Podcast with Tom Naegels
On the eve of the festival, our Consulate General organised an event for VIPs, such as official guests, artists, sponsors and so on. They were able to listen to the fascinating talk by Tom Naegels – the author of Nieuw België, Een migratiegeschiedenis 1944-1978 (New Belgium, a history of migration) – about the first years of Turkish migration in Belgium. The Deputy Governor of Istanbul – whose daughter is currently studying in Belgium – attended the event.
Finally, the Consulate General also wove a Belgian component into the commemoration by inviting Alex Agnew and Andries Beckers – the creators of Welcome To The AA, one of the most popular podcasts that attracts over 450,000 listeners a month. Inside the Consular buildings, they recorded an episode of their podcast, in which Tom Naegels spoke about his book and about the topic of migration.
Moussem Belgica in Morocco
Our embassy in Rabat (Morocco) did not initiate any major activity itself, but it did support events organised by others. For example, it made a work by the artist Randa Maroufi available to Moussem Belgica. Moussem Belgica is an arts festival created by the Brussels arts centre Moussem that takes place in the cities of Tangier and Oujda, each of which is located in one of the two regions from which the majority of Moroccan migrants came following their country's independence.
An agent took part in the closing ceremony of the DIMOBEL project, a cooperation platform funded by Wallonie-Bruxelles International. The subject was: what can we do to stimulate the Belgian-Moroccan corridor and guide entrepreneurship and investment?
Finally, some 10 panels were displayed during the reception to mark our national holiday. These came from the ULB exhibition Belgica Biladi on Moroccan migration, which had previously been displayed in Brussels, at venues such as the Ravenstein Gallery and at the Royal Park.
Sixty years of migration from Morocco and Türkiye have undeniably changed Belgium. The migrant workers contributed towards the economic development of our country. Also today, their descendants are making an indispensable contribution to the economic, social and cultural fabric of Belgium. This was something that both diplomatic posts were keen to commemorate.
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