Youth Politics and Activism in Turkey
Youth Politics and Activism in Turkey

Author(s): Bahar Başer
Subject(s): Civil Society, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Youth; politics; activism; Turkey;
Summary/Abstract: In recent years, academics, politicians and experts have turned their attention to a specific group of voters: Turkey’s youth. Especially before the elections in 2023, media outlets and polling companies have started publishing reports that claim the young people’s vote would be a game-changer in the upcoming elections. It is Generation Z, the so-called millennials, who were supposed to make a political statement with their vote in the Turkish elections. They constituted a sizeable portion of the eligible voters (20%) and around half of them would be casting their votes for the first time. Half of Turkey’s population is under the age of 30. For most, Erdoğan is the only political leader they have ever lived under. They have no memory of the “old Turkey”, as we know it, since they were born into a period of transformation which led to the so-called New Turkey under the rule of the AKP and Erdoğan. In 2018, polls showed that 80% of young people had shown no interest in politics. Another poll by Turkey Report in 2022 showed that 58% of them would not join a political movement or party “as a way to try and build a better society to live in”. As “political participation is central to discussions of democracy and justice”, a young generation disinterested in politics could have dire consequences for Turkish society. Do the poll results indicate that these young people do not engage in politics at all? Or, as digital natives and children of the new millennium, do they use alternative means to express themselves outside the conventional methods of joining political parties and movements? Generation Y was considered apolitical, but it still participated in seminal events like the Gezi protests. Indeed, 31% of the protestors were aged between 21 and 25, and 51% were between the ages of 21 and 30. Moreover, 36.6 % of the participants were students. What has changed with Generation Z?

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