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Turks in Austria (German: Türken in Österreich; Turkish: Avusturya Türkleri) are people of Turkish ethnicity living in Austria who form the second largest ethnic group in the country after Austrians.
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History
Turkish people were recruited to Austria as Gastarbeiter (guest workers) for the construction and export industries following an agreement with the Turkish government in 1964. From 1973 the policy of encouraging guest workers ended and restrictive immigration laws were introduced, first with the 1975 Aliens Employment Act, setting quotas on work permits, and then the 1992 Residence Act, which set quotas for residency permits without the right to work. A more restrictive system was put in place in 1997 and further limits imposed in 2006.
Since the 1970s Turks living and working in Austria have focused on family reunification and on seeking Austrian citizenship, for which they need to have lived in Austria for 10 years.
Population
According to the 2001 census, there was 183,445 Turkish nationals living in Austria. According to the Minority Rights Group International many of the Turks living in Austria have been naturalized and the full community is estimated to number between 200,000 and 300,000. Turks are the largest single immigrant group, the leading group seeking Austrian citizenship, and account for the majority of Muslims.According to BBC the number of Turks in Austria are estimated to be around 350,000.