Constructing the Youth of the Republic: Youth and Population Challenges in Modern Turkey

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Demet Lüküslü

Published:

2023

Publisher:

Edinburgh University Press

This chapter argues that the construction of youth has been one of the main political projects of the Republic of Turkey. A strong political myth as well as post-war traumas and the demographic characteristics of the Republic nourished the political project, for which youth symbolised the young Republic and the future of the nation. The construction of the young generation’s bodies, minds and spirits became a national concern for a desirable future. The solution announced by the AKP government(s) was to launch a new political project to construct pious generation(s), which marked a new era in the history of political projects directed at youth. Turkey seemed to have missed the window of demographic opportunity (a period during which the proportion of the working-age group was particularly prominent) since the share of youth in the total population began to decrease after 2010. Thus, Turkey in its second century will be facing the challenges not only of the young generation’s chronic problems but also of an ageing society. The chapter starts with a brief discussion of the history of youth and the population challenges of the Republic and then discusses the chronic problems of youth in contemporary Turkey.

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