The country has one of the youngest populations in Europe, and seven million people will be eligible to vote for the first time in May’s election. By Inews on April 13, 2023.
Young people in Turkey who have lived under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime nearly all their lives are desperate for change – and soon they will have chance to make their mark.
On Sunday 14 May, millions of them are expected to vote for the first time in what is expected to be a critical presidential election for the country.
“I do not want to live in a country that is ruled by Erdogan,” said Eren*, a queer university student from Adana in southern Turkey.
“If he wins [this election], I will leave Turkey as soon as possible,” adds the 23-year-old, who is studying in Istanbul and will graduate this year.
Mr Erdogan has ruled Turkey for 20 years – most of Eren’s life. In that time he has consolidated his grip on power while cracking down on dissent.
On Tuesday, Mr Erdogan launched his re-election campaign and is running for a third term in the country’s presidential election on 14 May, which is set to be a critical one.
Mr Erdogan is facing the biggest political challenge since his AK Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, with polls showing support waning in recent years after the value of the Turkish lira has plummeted and inflation has soared.
“We will bring inflation back down to single digits and definitely save our country from this problem,” he told a stadium crowd in Ankara.
But not everyone is convinced.
“Almost nothing is getting better,” said Eren, who uses they/them pronouns.
These views are echoed across the country, particularly among young people who yearn for a freer Turkey. The country has one of the youngest populations in Europe, with 13 million voters under the age of 24 – seven million of them will be eligible to vote for the first time in the May election.
Driss*, a 23-year-old graduate from Ankara, said the election has become “like a turning point for Turkey”.
“Many people think either we go back to our democratic and liberal values after the elections, or if AKP are elected again, we will slide into more authoritarian rule in the future,” he said.
Driss is currently under investigation for participating in protests against Mr Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector at Bogazici University, where he studied political science, in 2021.
“There is no more freedom of speech in Turkey – you can get arrested even if you retweet something meaningless,” he said.
“Young people who grew up only under the AKP rule are really tired of living in a political and economic situation like this, especially university students – they want change.”
He added that the growing economic crisis, which he believes hasn’t been helped by the AKP’s economic policies, is another reason why he doesn’t want the party to be re-elected.
“It’s become harder and harder for people to buy their daily necessities.”
Turkey’s top electoral body recently confirmed that three other candidates will be running in the presidential election; Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chair of the main opposition, the secular CHP; Muharrem Ince, chair of the Homeland Party; and Sinan Ogan, a former MP from the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP).
Eren said there is no candidate that “fully reflects my life view or what I want to change or support or abolish”.
Despite this, they are planning to vote for Mr Kilicdaroglu, the candidate for the opposition alliance, who was 10 percentage points ahead of the incumbent in an opinion poll last month.
Mr Kilicdaroglu, a 74-year-old retired civil servant who has been nicknamed the “Turkish Gandhi” has not had the best luck in the past.
The social democrat has lost all general and presidential elections he has stood for. But he hopes that his promise of democratic and economic reform will appeal to those who have grown disillusioned.
Kaya Genc, a Turkish writer, sees Mr Kilicdarogluas as an “anti- Erdogan”.
“He’s a very fatherly figure, and is very mild and has this kind of grandfatherly outlook,” he told i over the phone from his office in Istanbul.
He described the opposition leader is a “good strategist” who has successfully brought together a range of different parties in the so-called “Table of Six” coalition.
Since the devastating earthquakes in the south-east of the country, which killed over 50,000 people, Mr Erdogan’s popularity has taken a hit. Many people blame him for the state’s unpreparedness and slow relief effort.
“I think even pro-Erdogan people were outraged by his reaction to the earthquake,” said Mr Genc.
“The best he could do was promise to build new houses, but you have to pay for them. So he’s just the mediator between his cronies and his voters.”
Sinan Ciddi, associate professor of national security studies at Marine Corps University in Virginia, US, and an expert on Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy, questioned the upcoming election’s security and fairness.
He explained that the Supreme Election Council – the highest electoral authority in Turkey – accepting the candidacy of Mr Erdogan, who does not have a university degree, for a third term is “unconstitutional”.
The constitution states that a presidential term runs for five years and a candidate can be elected for a maximum of two terms. It also states that in order to become president of Turkey, the candidate must have completed higher education.
Mr Erdogan has played a key role as a mediator between Russia and the West since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making him “very valuable” from an international point of view, said Emre Erdogan, professor of foreign policy and political participation at Istanbul Bilgi University.
He said there are no clear ideas about the position of the opposition in terms of foreign policy if they win, however some people from the opposition say Turkey will take a “clear Western position against Russia”.
Professor Erdogan added that Turkey faces numerous threats from surrounding neighbours, including the war in Syria, a potential war in Georgia, tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh as well as tensions with Greece.
If Mr Erdogan wins a third term at the election, there are fears that there will be reprisals.
“There’s been rumours suggesting that opposition party members and politicians will be basically arrested, and essentially, he’s going to circle the wagons on all the dissidents across the country and remaining independent media outlets and journalists,” said Professor Ciddi.
“So we’re expecting the worst, because it’s going to really sort of bolster his own ego, if he were to be reelected.”
*Names changed to protect identity