Generation Z to hold key to Turkey’s future

Millions of Turkish youth will vote for the first time in their lives in the general elections in 2023, as parties are expected to put those who are seen as holding a key to the country’s future at the heart of their campaigns, according to a research conducted by a Turkish daily.

“Generation Z is a very political generation contrary to popular belief that they are apolitical. The only difference is that their political views are not stable; they determine politics temporally,” said Murat Şeker, the head of the City Politics Center at Istanbul University.

Gen Z, the world’s first digital natives who have never known a world without internet in their pocket, make up 39 percent of Turkey’s population, according to data compiled by Milliyet. Twenty percent of them, therefore a little over 5 million of members of Gen Z, will vote for the first time in their lives in Turkey’s general elections in 2023. One million of them will be new voters in Istanbul, the country’s largest city by population, in 2023.

“Since their birth, the country has been governed by the same political party,” said Şeker.

Turkish people are familiar with the concept of “the Father State,” a term meaning that the state is like a father who cares for his citizens. But Gen Z does not see the state as their father, he added.

“The state is no longer a father to them. They see it as an organization that must serve them,” added Şeker, stressing that they are well aware of global trends and are able to evaluate things in line with the patterns in the rest of the world. They see the mistakes of all political movements and can easily change their minds.