Bloomberg: “Generation Erdoğan” Is Losing Faith: Young Turks Confront Repression, Economic Anxiety, and a Future Elsewhere

A generation of young Turks — many of whom have never known another leader besides Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — is increasingly questioning its place in the only Turkey it has ever experienced. At universities such as Boğaziçi, students speak of police surveillance, arrests for protesting, and growing limits on personal freedoms. Combined with inflation, job uncertainty, and the shrinking space for free expression, more young people are planning their futures abroad. Bloomberg interviews with students reveal deep alienation from a system that they believe neither hears them nor represents them.

A University of Dreams — Surrounded by Police

It is registration day at Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University, one of Turkey’s most prestigious academic institutions. Ali, an incoming computer-engineering student, waits outside the campus with his father. The university’s hilltop view of the Bosphorus remains breathtaking. But the atmosphere no longer feels free.

Boğaziçi — founded as an American college in the 1860s, historically liberal and international — was once a symbol of academic independence. Today, the main entrance is routinely blocked by metal barricades, and the campus is monitored by armed riot police.

“Everywhere, there are police. They take photos of students. Everyone’s under stress,”
— Ali, Boğaziçi University student

Since 2021, when President Erdoğan appointed a loyalist rector, Boğaziçi has become a focal point of resistance against government control. More than 200 students and academics were detained during protests; some later faced criminal charges. The rector was eventually replaced, but the pressure never eased.

Ali says a student he knows was jailed for participating in a peaceful protest:

“He got great exam results. He was an excellent student. Still, he was sent to Silivri prison for two months.”

Turkey’s Youth Face an Income Crisis: Majority Cannot Meet Basic Needs Despite Working

Silivri: The Destination for Dissent

Silivri Prison — officially Marmara Penitentiary — is Europe’s largest detention facility. Housing more than 22,000 detainees, it has become a symbol of political repression in contemporary Turkey.

Journalists, academics, opposition politicians — and now students — have passed through its gates.

On Turkish social media, a dark joke circulates:

“Silivri is cold.”

The joke reflects a reality: in Erdoğan’s Turkey, dissent can carry a high personal cost.

A Generation Raised Under One Leader

More than 20% of Turkey’s population — almost 18 million people — has never known any leader other than Erdoğan.

Since 2003, Erdoğan and the ruling AK Party have reshaped Turkish institutions:

• Media consolidation under pro-government ownership

• Curriculum changes emphasizing conservative and religious values

• Increasing criminalization of protest and dissent

The goal, critics say, is to remake the secular Republic into a more religious, obedient, homogeneous society.

Yet resistance remains. And increasingly, it is led by the young.

Restrictions on Expression: “Even a Joke Can Lead to Arrest”

The backlash is not limited to university activism. In recent months:

• YouTuber Boğaç Soydemir and his guest Enes Akgündüz were arrested over an alcohol-related joke. Akgündüz didn’t even make the joke — he just laughed.

• Members of girl band Manifest were detained because authorities deemed their stage outfits and choreography “offensive to public morals.”

Ece, a university student from Antalya, believes the band became a target because crowds at their concerts chanted the slogan:

“Hak, hukuk, adalet” — “Rights, law, justice.”

“The government doesn’t want us to raise our voices. They want us to say exactly what they say,”
— Ece, university student

The phrase — now widely used at opposition rallies — surged after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was briefly taken into custody earlier this year.

Erdoğan’s Ideal Young Generation

President Erdoğan openly contrasts dissenting youth with the generation he wants to build:

“Ignore a handful of people dressed up as witches.
There is a moral generation devoted to its homeland and religion.”
— President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Oct. 31 speech)

The message is clear: there is a correct way to be young — and a dangerous one.

The Economic Squeeze: “We Can’t Afford the Future Here”

Political pressure is only part of the story.

Students describe feeling crushed by economic hopelessness:

• Food prices and rent have skyrocketed

• Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high

• Salaries offer little chance of financial independence

The result is a mass exodus of talent.

Local reporting shows that:

• Over 80% of top private high school graduates now choose universities abroad
  (15 years ago, this was 30–40%)

Official statistics confirm that graduates from private universities are more likely to emigrate than those from public institutions.

Ekrem Cunedioğlu from Ankara-based think tank TEPAV explains:

“Young people don’t see themselves represented.
They feel their hopes are repressed by older politicians.”

“We Love Our Country. But Our Country Doesn’t Love Us Back.”

Despite everything, some students still believe change will come.

Ali is one of them:

“The system will change in five to ten years. But waiting is painful.”

Ece shares the same hope — but keeps a backup plan for studying abroad.

The emotional conflict was captured by another student interviewed:

“We love Turkey. But Turkey doesn’t love us back.”

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