Youth study: 63% of young people want to leave Turkey

The CDU-affiliated Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation conducted the second “Turkish Youth Study” after 2021. 2140 young people aged 18 to 25 from 16 provinces were interviewed for the study. The data predates the big earthquake in February and the recent elections that Erdogan won.

Only 27.4% are employed, the majority of whom are employees. For the most part, those in government service do not feel that quality is the key criterion for a government job.  88.5% of the unemployed participants are students, most of whom are dissatisfied with their education. 61.3% find the financing of their studies to be a burden, with the increased food prices being seen as the main problem.

With 75.7%, the overwhelming majority of those questioned rejected state education policy. When it comes to the economy, the opinion is clear. 86.2% rate the overall economic situation as poor. 80.6% assess the national economic policy as unsuccessful, while 88.7% perceive an unfair distribution of income.

Many young people want to leave the country as soon as there is an opportunity to do so. 63% spoke in favour, of Germany, the USA and Great Britain as the most popular destinations. Dissatisfaction also prevails in politics. 69.9% think the current government is bad, but half of the participants do not feel represented by any party. Nevertheless, President Erdogan’s AKP received support from only 7.1% of those surveyed. 22.5% reject the two large alliances around the AKP and CHP that have run for election.

There is a great deal of contradiction in state migration policy. 91.8% are against, while 67% call for the immediate return of the refugees. Furthermore, only 17.3% of those surveyed say they are happy, while 39.4% are optimistic about the country’s future. The results of the “Turkish Youth Study 2023” are clear, but whether they correspond to reality in terms of voting preferences is questionable after the results of the elections so they would have to be considered separately. Finally, the largest group of voters in these elections was the group of young people in this study.