Young boy with HDP flag at rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Aurore Belot/Demotix. All rights reserved.Turkey’s general election on 7 June 2015 is a political milestone for the country: the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) failed to garner enough votes to form a single party government, while the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) crossed the 10 percent election threshold to gain seats in the Grand National Assembly (Meclis). For many Turkish youths, the 2015 general election represents their first time voting, and although many have grown up without experience of military rule, they have experienced an environment of increasing authoritarianism and socio-cultural conflict.
The HDP actively campaigned on youth issues, vowing to lower the voting age and providing cash transfers to those aged 15 to 25 for transport and communication. The concerns of young people in Turkey centre around the economy (where youth suffer from high unemployment), living standards, education, and concerns over the rising authoritarian practices of the AKP. The recent detention of a 16-year-old political critic of the AKP (charged with insulting the head of state) and the rough detention of student protesters (among other events) have not quelled youth concerns about police brutality and political freedoms.
Although the discussion of an executive presidency and the authoritarian tendencies of the AKP have been partially suppressed by Turkey’s recent general election, fears over a repressive internal security apparatus remain. Uncertainty remains over the continued growth of arbitrary police actions against political opponents and the methods which the AKP (or a new ruling coalition) may use against dissidents.
