WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:10.840 --> 00:00:15.440 My name is Mehmet Ali Dericioglu and I’m 26 years old. 00:00:15.440 --> 00:00:19.920 I was born in October 1861 in Alasehir/Manisa. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:26.699 That’s a small province town near the city Izmir, 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:28.710 about 140 kilometres away. 00:00:28.710 --> 00:00:35.820 I was born and raised there and lived there until I turned 16. 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:42.470 It’s where I went to primary and secondary school and partly Gymnasium. 00:00:42.470 --> 00:00:50.799 I also have two brothers, that were born there, we grew up together. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:57.870 At that time, Turkey was going through tough years, the 70s, lots of terrorism. 00:00:57.870 --> 00:01:04.290 That’s why I had to go to a police or a military school. 00:01:04.290 --> 00:01:06.670 That was the safest school back then. 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:11.290 I took the entrance exams and got through both of them. 00:01:11.290 --> 00:01:13.940 Then I decided to go to the military school / Gendamerie. 00:01:13.940 --> 00:01:22.820 I studied for four years in Ankara. 00:01:22.820 --> 00:01:27.450 Shortly before my studies, 1980, there was a military coup again. 00:01:27.450 --> 00:01:35.560 So I had to give up the military school, shortly before graduating. 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:38.660 In August 1980 I moved to Germany. 00:01:38.660 --> 00:01:40.690 My first stop was Munich. 00:01:40.690 --> 00:01:44.710 From there I had no idea where to go, what to do with myself. 00:01:44.710 --> 00:01:48.770 I didn’t speak any German and just very little English. 00:01:48.770 --> 00:01:55.280 So then I just jumped on the next train and thought to myself, where this train goes, 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:56.520 I will simply go. 00:01:56.520 --> 00:01:58.780 And the train brought me to Cologne. 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:04.010 In Collogne, I got out the train, and then I looked around a bit. 00:02:04.010 --> 00:02:07.979 With no German and very little English knowledge. 00:02:07.979 --> 00:02:12.380 And then I saw, that there’s a circus in town, circus Roncallli. 00:02:12.380 --> 00:02:16.880 The owner was called Paul with a beard, I still remember that well until today 00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:20.689 and he took me in his heart and gave me a job. 00:02:20.689 --> 00:02:28.090 I was opening and closing the curtains for the artists, and I already worked there for three 00:02:28.090 --> 00:02:33.239 or three and a half months and was very very happy, but I thought to myself 00:02:33.239 --> 00:02:36.420 that it’s not a job for me. 00:02:36.420 --> 00:02:41.680 Then I took the next train, then I went to Hamburg, there I had to 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:46.779 work for three days and go to a German school for two days to learn German. 00:02:46.779 --> 00:02:52.109 Eight months afterwards I received the permit to stay and to work in Germany. 00:02:52.109 --> 00:02:54.390 Then I was allowed to stay in Hamburg. 00:02:54.390 --> 00:03:00.500 I lived in Hamburg for three years, but life in Germany was unfortunately 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:01.500 not really for me. 00:03:01.500 --> 00:03:04.750 Then I wanted to go back to Turkey, no matter what. 00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:07.260 I came back to Turkey after this. 00:03:07.260 --> 00:03:11.389 Then I had to do my military service there as everyone else. 00:03:11.389 --> 00:03:16.049 That was in Samsung at the Black Sea, it was a very nice time for me. 00:03:16.049 --> 00:03:21.419 In 1985 tourism really took off in Turkey, so I could put my German skills 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:25.930 and a bit of English skills to use somewhere in the tourism branch. 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:27.359 That’s what I did. 00:03:27.359 --> 00:03:33.689 Then I went to Kusadasi, I started there, I worked as a waiter, then 00:03:33.689 --> 00:03:39.870 I worked at a jewellery shop as a seller and in the end I started to work at a carpet shop 00:03:39.870 --> 00:03:50.959 as a carpet seller. In August 1986 I then met my wife, 00:03:50.959 --> 00:03:56.389 the mother of my children. 00:03:56.389 --> 00:03:58.389 Through selling carpets. 00:03:58.389 --> 00:04:06.230 I sold a carpet to my Ex parents in law, and so I met my ex wife 00:04:06.230 --> 00:04:12.219 And then we kinda got really close. 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:16.299 Then we decided to get married. 00:04:16.299 --> 00:04:22.570 After the wedding, I lived in Germany for some time and my wife 00:04:22.570 --> 00:04:26.840 always commuted between Germany and Turkey. 00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:38.870 In 1987 I looked around a bit and saw that there was a business gap for a bar. 00:04:38.870 --> 00:04:43.729 It was a dream of mine, to open such a bar, that nobody else had. 00:04:43.729 --> 00:04:49.310 I rented a huge, four story building from my friend 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:52.610 and already refurbished and renovated everything. 00:04:52.610 --> 00:04:54.100 It was called Dusty Bar. 00:04:54.100 --> 00:05:01.569 Three years later, in 1989, she said Yea, we have to decide, where we 00:05:01.569 --> 00:05:03.270 actually want to live. 00:05:03.270 --> 00:05:06.480 So we went to Germany. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.760 And we rented a flat in Munich. 00:05:09.760 --> 00:05:12.680 There I applied for a job at Karstadt. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:20.449 Then for a short time, I don’t know about a year I think, I worked in Karstadt. 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:25.800 1990 I wanted to go back to Turkey again, and I got an opportunity in Antalya in Side. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:27.009 Tiny place. 00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:29.590 To work as a carpet seller. 00:05:29.590 --> 00:05:33.020 So then I went back again. 00:05:33.020 --> 00:05:35.470 I worked there for a year and a half. 00:05:35.470 --> 00:05:43.430 On the first of October, 1992, my son Deniz came to the world. 00:05:43.430 --> 00:05:48.379 I couldn’t leave my ex wife in Germany alone, so I stayed for some time. 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:53.409 After eight or nine months, my gut feeling started telling me, 00:05:53.409 --> 00:05:59.849 that I have to go back to Turkey and then I looked for a job there 00:05:59.849 --> 00:06:01.169 and just escaped to Turkey. 00:06:01.169 --> 00:06:03.849 I looked around the pretty spots. 00:06:03.849 --> 00:06:05.650 This time was Mamaris the spot. 00:06:05.650 --> 00:06:12.470 There I rented a real shop and opened a carpet shop. 00:06:12.470 --> 00:06:19.379 It was called Turunc Carpet Gallery. 1995, my second child came to the world. 00:06:19.379 --> 00:06:23.250 It was on the second of January 1995, Tamara. 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:28.940 And then my ex wife with two children naturally had to come to Turkey. 00:06:28.940 --> 00:06:31.939 They were both still small, still babies. 00:06:31.939 --> 00:06:35.139 And that was hard, of course. 00:06:35.139 --> 00:06:40.430 Then we found out that my wife is pregnant again, with a third child 00:06:40.430 --> 00:06:43.080 that is filming me right now. 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:44.540 With Aylin. 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:49.699 And then, on Easter 96, my ex father in law died. 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:54.180 And I couldn’t leave her alone in such hard times. 00:06:54.180 --> 00:07:00.110 Then we decided that I really have to abandon the shop in Turkey 00:07:00.110 --> 00:07:02.509 and really stay in Germany. 00:07:02.509 --> 00:07:08.050 Aylin came to the world and then an insurance company always called, 00:07:08.050 --> 00:07:10.909 to sell insurance for the children, you know. 00:07:10.909 --> 00:07:13.530 Then I decided to get that insurance. 00:07:13.530 --> 00:07:20.499 Then they asked what I do for a living and so, and if I would want to work 00:07:20.499 --> 00:07:21.499 for them as an insurance agent. 00:07:21.499 --> 00:07:22.499 So I said yes. 00:07:22.499 --> 00:07:27.389 So I started to work for the company as an insurance agent. 00:07:27.389 --> 00:07:32.210 I did that for a year and a half. 00:07:32.210 --> 00:07:37.069 I was quite successful in that but then again I thought to myself, 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.040 that insurance agent is no job for me. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:47.949 Then I thought again about selling carpets in the Kelims branch. 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:52.780 In 1998 I rented a shop and I opened a wonderful shop. 00:07:52.780 --> 00:07:55.639 We refurbished and renovated everything ourselves. 00:07:55.639 --> 00:08:00.009 And my kids always came to visit and they really fell in love 00:08:00.009 --> 00:08:03.499 with that carpet shop and the shop war very very pretty too. 00:08:03.499 --> 00:08:05.840 A sight for Augsburg. 00:08:05.840 --> 00:08:10.099 Carpet shops were doing worse and worse then, so I had to think about what 00:08:10.099 --> 00:08:14.539 to do as a second job. 00:08:14.539 --> 00:08:23.099 Then an acquaintance of mine came to me, who worked as a windows and doors renovator 00:08:23.099 --> 00:08:26.770 isolating them with sealings. 00:08:26.770 --> 00:08:31.789 He asked me to do some research in the Turkey to find a producer 00:08:31.789 --> 00:08:33.529 of these isolating materials. 00:08:33.529 --> 00:08:34.529 So that’s what I did. 00:08:34.529 --> 00:08:40.719 Through that I made a connection to Turkey again. 00:08:40.719 --> 00:08:44.960 Through these isolators, these rubber things that come in between doors and windows. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.460 I led both of these businesses at the same time for about three years. 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:51.460 Then I said to myself, 00:08:51.460 --> 00:08:52.460 I can’t do it all. 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:55.550 Carpet shop wasn’t making much money anyways, 00:08:55.550 --> 00:08:57.510 so I had to close it in the end. 00:08:57.510 --> 00:09:01.870 It hurt me so much to close that shop. 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:09.350 It was called Minerva, in the Bäckergasse number 12, 86150. I still remember the postal code 00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:10.350 even today. 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:14.830 My kids were really good friends with the neighbours, for them it was like a home there. 00:09:14.830 --> 00:09:18.910 And in 2006 was also my divorce with my ex wife. 00:09:18.910 --> 00:09:23.870 These times were not so nice at all for my kids. 00:09:23.870 --> 00:09:30.050 Then I started living alone, I lived alone for quite some time. 00:09:30.050 --> 00:09:35.450 Then I one day I gathered all three of them, took them out for dinner, and I asked them. 00:09:35.450 --> 00:09:38.840 Well I want to go back to Turkey, is that okay with you? 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:43.060 And that I can’t make it in Germany any longer like this. 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:45.870 I just wanted to know the opinions of my kids to this. 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:50.190 They were all very sad of course, but they let me go 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:55.150 and I was so so happy that I could go back. 00:09:55.150 --> 00:10:07.590 So then in 2011, I simply got back to Turkey and I rented a small 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:12.680 office and I started to live in Turkey. 00:10:12.680 --> 00:10:17.380 And my kids came to visit me every year, always when they could. 00:10:17.380 --> 00:10:21.470 There are things that I really really like in Germany and of course also 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:24.990 things that I like about Turkey. 00:10:24.990 --> 00:10:27.250 I was alway in between. 00:10:27.250 --> 00:10:28.700 Between two cultures. 00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:30.380 I actually like both cultures. 00:10:30.380 --> 00:10:37.250 In Germany, for example, I really like the cleanliness and the social life, 00:10:37.250 --> 00:10:39.260 the people respect each other there. 00:10:39.260 --> 00:10:42.540 It can’t be described, how people live here. 00:10:42.540 --> 00:10:46.880 There are neighbourhoods, that are very tight-knit here, 00:10:46.880 --> 00:10:49.090 or the families stay together forever. 00:10:49.090 --> 00:10:53.970 That’s why, at some age I’ve always dreamed about going to Turkey 00:10:53.970 --> 00:10:56.800 and building a new life there. 00:10:56.800 --> 00:11:03.210 Have a small house with a dog and other pets. 00:11:03.210 --> 00:11:07.740 To live in a nice neighbourhood like that. 00:11:07.740 --> 00:11:14.440 I managed to get all that after my second marriage and now 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:21.020 I feel better here, but when they ask me, I miss a lot of things from Germany. 00:11:21.020 --> 00:11:22.280 from Germany. 00:11:22.280 --> 00:11:25.870 The traffic discipline is what I miss. 00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:28.630 Here in Turkey we sometimes drive through red lights, 00:11:28.630 --> 00:11:33.370 sometimes through yellow and we don’t wait at the lights. 00:11:33.370 --> 00:11:38.010 We just go over the crossing and have to be careful of the traffic. 00:11:38.010 --> 00:11:42.470 We’re simply not so far as Germany yet. 00:11:42.470 --> 00:11:46.480 Very seldom I wonder if I should go back to Germany. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:53.250 Because the political situation in Turkey isn’t stable at the moment, we’re always fluctuating 00:11:53.250 --> 00:11:56.680 and now terrorism is also going strong here. 00:11:56.680 --> 00:12:02.670 Terrorism has a big impact, every day 5 to 10 people die in Turkey, 00:12:02.670 --> 00:12:05.600 more in the east, but still, it’s kinda disturbing somehow. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:06.870 We’ve just had a military coup attempt 00:12:06.870 --> 00:12:10.160 on the 15th of July. 00:12:10.160 --> 00:12:14.240 That made Turkey really unstable. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.650 These were bad times for Turkey. 00:12:17.650 --> 00:12:19.140 It’s still not stable. 00:12:19.140 --> 00:12:22.330 Who knows what comes tomorrow. 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:28.740 And the economy froze, came to a halt here, no money at all. 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:31.580 Not a single cent is moving right now. 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:34.760 The people are in no mood for shopping. 00:12:34.760 --> 00:12:44.940 But here, my life is simple for me, I’d say, it’s very beautiful 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:50.060 because we have the sun shining for almost 8 months here. 00:12:50.060 --> 00:12:57.770 We live directly at the promenade and the sea is about 200 meters away, 00:12:57.770 --> 00:12:59.770 one can just walk there. 00:12:59.770 --> 00:13:04.390 I really like it here and at the moment I’m really 00:13:04.390 --> 00:13:04.890 happy here in Turkey.