Young, restless and disinterested
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Şafak Timur and Sevim Songün
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 03, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - With half the Turkish population under 28, young people have considerable say in how this country should be run, if only they were to voice it. Latest surveys have uncovered an overwhelming political apathy among the young and what interest exists is motivated far more by traditional party loyalty than party policy on contemporary issues
Young voters played a considerable role in U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent victory, but a similar phenomenon is unlikely in Turkey’s looming local elections, despite the fact that half of all Turks are under 28.
The picture emerging of Turkey’s young constituency is that they are disinterested in politics and whatever political affiliations exist do not come from a conscious political choice.
Motivating young Turks to vote are not the main political or social issues, such as education, the economy, and membership to the European Union but cultural, religious and ethnic differences, according to Kemal Kılıç from Sabancı University. "People decide which party to vote for like choosing a football team to be a fan ofÉ seems likely to pass from father to child," he said.
The youth will not make any difference in the upcoming local elections, said Kılıç, who is also the general secretary of the Turkish Social, Economic, and Political Research Foundation, or TÜSES, which has recently released the results of a survey into the level of political interest among young people.
"Our earlier surveys also revealed that voters are choosing parties based on their cultural identity, lifestyle, and most recently based on their problems, which results in a polarization," said Bekir Ağırdır, the manager of the Konda research company. With the aim of understanding the views and experiences young people have about politics, in 2007 the survey team interviewed 1,203 young people between the ages of 16 and 29 in 11 provinces around the country.
The majority of participants said they were not greatly interested in politics. The potential voters of the small-scaled, leftist Freedom and Solidarity Party, or ÖDP, the Social Democratic People’s Party, or SHP, and the Worker’s Party, or İP, whose leader was arrested in connection with the ongoing Ergenekon case Ğ an alleged gang accused of overthrowing the government Ğ are those most interested in following politics.
Slightly more than 91 percent of participants said they were not members of any political party or the youth branch of any party. Almost 53 percent of young people never talk about politics with their family and relatives, while almost 48 percent never talk with their friends either. Meanwhile, 70 percent of young people believe that political parties are corrupt and 65 percent think that actively working for a political party would not solve any of their problems.
Ağırdır said, however, youth had different ideas of how to run government. "We look at the youth from our generation’s model of doing politics and we say youth are not involved or are not interested in politics, just because they are not joining our political models."
Gila Benmayor, a columnist for daily Hürriyet said it was not youth who were responsible for this apathy among the young. "The problem lies with the political parties not with the youths. When social policies are formulated, no one takes into account the youth. The AKP is better at motivating the young people and I think in the local elections among young voters more AKP supporters will go to the polls," she said.
Kıvanç Eliaçık from the Genç-Sen trade union for students said: "The fact that youths were not interested in politics was just the tip of the iceberg. The unseen element is that the system closes the channels to politics for young people." The AKP invited youth to be active in politics last year when the minimum age to run for office dropped to 25, he said. However, this is not an honest call, as they do not give space for young people to partake in politics in a way they do not like. "Some of my friends have been arrested just because they hung posters declaring freedom for Palestine," he said.
The research findings indicate that it is not possible to discover the voting preferences of young people from their thoughts on the economy, EU membership and other main issues, Kılıç said. For instance, 61 percent of youngsters said big scale industrial institutions should be under state control, while almost 80 percent of them said the state should intervene in the economy to ensure equality. When it comes to education, almost 90 percent of youngsters said education should be free including universities.
However, 50 percent of this 90 percent said they would vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, while almost 55 percent of those supporting state intervention to economy said they would also vote for the AKP, defender of a liberal economy.
"There is a huge gap between the demands of the electorate and the leaders of the party they vote for," said Kılıç.
Determinants for preferences
However, answers from young adults about their way of living religion, ethnicity and secularism are determinants for their voting preferences, according to the research. Almost 85 percent of participants said the government issues should not be regulated according to religious rules. The remaining 15 percent’s majority said they would vote for the conservative AKP. Among those participants who are unemployed and from Sunni or Hanefi sect of Islam almost 55 percent said they would vote for the AKP. "We asked an unemployed man and he says AKP, if its is an unemployed woman the ratio increased to 70 percent. However she is the most aggrieved party," Kılıç said.
Ağırdır said polarization in society would determine the votes in local elections, and there will not be a room for the smaller parties or new movements and change. That polarization is not only based on the different opinions about the secularism, but from a wide range of axis, he said. The polarization will be between AKP and DTP in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey and between CHP and AKP in the rest of Turkey.
The picture emerging of Turkey’s young constituency is that they are disinterested in politics and whatever political affiliations exist do not come from a conscious political choice.
Motivating young Turks to vote are not the main political or social issues, such as education, the economy, and membership to the European Union but cultural, religious and ethnic differences, according to Kemal Kılıç from Sabancı University. "People decide which party to vote for like choosing a football team to be a fan ofÉ seems likely to pass from father to child," he said.
The youth will not make any difference in the upcoming local elections, said Kılıç, who is also the general secretary of the Turkish Social, Economic, and Political Research Foundation, or TÜSES, which has recently released the results of a survey into the level of political interest among young people.
"Our earlier surveys also revealed that voters are choosing parties based on their cultural identity, lifestyle, and most recently based on their problems, which results in a polarization," said Bekir Ağırdır, the manager of the Konda research company. With the aim of understanding the views and experiences young people have about politics, in 2007 the survey team interviewed 1,203 young people between the ages of 16 and 29 in 11 provinces around the country.
The majority of participants said they were not greatly interested in politics. The potential voters of the small-scaled, leftist Freedom and Solidarity Party, or ÖDP, the Social Democratic People’s Party, or SHP, and the Worker’s Party, or İP, whose leader was arrested in connection with the ongoing Ergenekon case Ğ an alleged gang accused of overthrowing the government Ğ are those most interested in following politics.
Slightly more than 91 percent of participants said they were not members of any political party or the youth branch of any party. Almost 53 percent of young people never talk about politics with their family and relatives, while almost 48 percent never talk with their friends either. Meanwhile, 70 percent of young people believe that political parties are corrupt and 65 percent think that actively working for a political party would not solve any of their problems.
Ağırdır said, however, youth had different ideas of how to run government. "We look at the youth from our generation’s model of doing politics and we say youth are not involved or are not interested in politics, just because they are not joining our political models."
Gila Benmayor, a columnist for daily Hürriyet said it was not youth who were responsible for this apathy among the young. "The problem lies with the political parties not with the youths. When social policies are formulated, no one takes into account the youth. The AKP is better at motivating the young people and I think in the local elections among young voters more AKP supporters will go to the polls," she said.
Kıvanç Eliaçık from the Genç-Sen trade union for students said: "The fact that youths were not interested in politics was just the tip of the iceberg. The unseen element is that the system closes the channels to politics for young people." The AKP invited youth to be active in politics last year when the minimum age to run for office dropped to 25, he said. However, this is not an honest call, as they do not give space for young people to partake in politics in a way they do not like. "Some of my friends have been arrested just because they hung posters declaring freedom for Palestine," he said.
The research findings indicate that it is not possible to discover the voting preferences of young people from their thoughts on the economy, EU membership and other main issues, Kılıç said. For instance, 61 percent of youngsters said big scale industrial institutions should be under state control, while almost 80 percent of them said the state should intervene in the economy to ensure equality. When it comes to education, almost 90 percent of youngsters said education should be free including universities.
However, 50 percent of this 90 percent said they would vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, while almost 55 percent of those supporting state intervention to economy said they would also vote for the AKP, defender of a liberal economy.
"There is a huge gap between the demands of the electorate and the leaders of the party they vote for," said Kılıç.
Determinants for preferences
However, answers from young adults about their way of living religion, ethnicity and secularism are determinants for their voting preferences, according to the research. Almost 85 percent of participants said the government issues should not be regulated according to religious rules. The remaining 15 percent’s majority said they would vote for the conservative AKP. Among those participants who are unemployed and from Sunni or Hanefi sect of Islam almost 55 percent said they would vote for the AKP. "We asked an unemployed man and he says AKP, if its is an unemployed woman the ratio increased to 70 percent. However she is the most aggrieved party," Kılıç said.
Ağırdır said polarization in society would determine the votes in local elections, and there will not be a room for the smaller parties or new movements and change. That polarization is not only based on the different opinions about the secularism, but from a wide range of axis, he said. The polarization will be between AKP and DTP in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey and between CHP and AKP in the rest of Turkey.