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Today, the youth and especially Generation Z’s political participation has been attracting the attention of academicians. Although Ankara, as an emblem of the political history of Türkiye, is in the center of the country, a new generation with new behaviors and beliefs under the influence of digital contexts is rising. Are they becoming non-political or are they engaging in politics differently through social media?
Currently, Türkiye's population includes Gen Z, which comprises those who were born between 1997 and 2012. Although the research focuses on the 2023 general elections, this reveals that over 13 million people in the Gen Z generation voted in the elections, and therefore their contribution to the democratic process of Türkiye cannot be contested. These young Turks are also much more politically engaged than preceding generations, though their approach to the political process is quite different from those before them.
As shown by the most recent KONDA Research (2023), only 25% of the Turkish Gen Zs trust political parties. Nevertheless, more than 64% of respondents are interested in becoming politically informed, 72% of which uses social media platforms as their primary source of news. This gives a clear indication that there has been a transition from the conventional political systems to the social media politics.
Key Data (KONDA, 2023):
· It’s found that 41% of Gen Z actively engage in political discussions online.
· 58% of the respondents stated that they have shared political content on social media.
· Virtually less than 10% of them included affiliation to any political party.
People cannot afford to be politically apathetic; they are inventing their own politics in cyberspace, in liminal and humorous ways.
This can also be observed in the way Turkish Gen Z actively participates in global matters such as climate change, rights for all, or economic disparity. Whether it's inflation explained in a TikTok post or an earthquake relief campaign on Instagram, they are all politically productive—but not when it comes to votes.
A contrasting view suggests that Turkish Gen Z’s engagement remains surface-level and fragmented. According to a 2024 study by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Turkey Office, the majority of youth feel estranged from formal political processes. One respondent noted: "Voting feels pointless when everything is already decided by those in power."
However, a recent 2022 report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development detailed that youth political and civic engagement is below the European average of Türkiye in terms of participating in parties, political consultation. Many sceptics continue to express that people are highly-engaged in digital media but remain largely absent from policymaking or democratic change.
However, it overlooks the specificity of emerging forms of civism. Rather than engaging in any rallies or youth branches of political parties, the Gen Z in Türkiye is interested in:
● Supporting movements via viral hashtags
● Signing and sharing online petitions
● Using memes and creating content for sharing the news
The same combination of these tendencies can be observed in various countries and regions across the world. Pew Research Center in their survey conducted in 20 countries including Türkiye found out that Generation Z is less likely to be registered to party affiliations, but are more willing to support causes such as political liberties, environment preservationism, and mental health advocacy.
In Türkiye, all these values have connections to national discussions. For instance, amid economic difficulties, youth use ironic Twitter threads to critique policies. During the election times, people without any party affiliation hold live sessions to explain how to vote.
Influencers as civic leaders:
● Political considerations are also gradually integrated into YouTubers and lifestyle vloggers’ audiences as well.
● TikTok users educate people about laws and policies.
● Podcasts mention gender rights and gender-sensitive media censorship and education reforms.
The political orientation of Gen Z in Türkiye has resulted from a myriad of factors occurring in a chain-like sequence. The first one is the state of the economy. With unemployment rates exceeding 25% for over three years, politics is mainly focused on finances, inflation and labor for the youth. This breeds disillusionment with political structures, and yet a longing for change.
While GenZ navigates a more progressive legislation compared to millennials, it continues to embrace culture and tradition. While some represent traditional cultures of family and religion, others hold liberal values. Importantly, these orientations are not mutually exclusive. Open spaces online allow for voices and opinions to be given, heard and debated, resulting in youth being able to present and argue a more complex form of politics which is beyond the binaries.
I will write an essay on education and media literacy as one of the pivotal forces in the United States. This is an unfortunate reality for Gen Z, even if they grew up with the internet at their fingertips. However, they have slowly woken up to this fact. Of course, many use independent journalists and engage in fact-checking and watch videos on sites like YouTube, listen to content creators on Patreon, and more recently follow podcasts. Academic institutions and NGOs have also sought to boost the people’s ability to understand the flow of information by increasing the number of programs on digital literacy.
Their global perspective also defines the political behavior. Whenever there is a protest or an election within Türkiye, the Gen Z not only participates and contributes but they also follow global issues from the rights of women in Iran to the climate protests of Europe and the elections in the U.S. This cosmopolitan point of view enlarges their vision of politics and brings comparative standards of governance, rights, and change.
"They care about women’s rights in Iran, elections in the US, and climate protests in Germany as much as local politics," says Dr. Evren Balta.
However, many political parties continue to be most relevant to older people with a minimal focus on the youth. Therefore, youth have the perception that they are not being attended to in formal forums, hence they look for informal means to voice their opinions.
It is therefore wrong to try and classify the Turkish Gen Z citizens as being apolitical. They are not inactive; they engage in their own ways—watching videos, sharing campaigns, commenting and posting content. This cynicism about institutions is not apathy. It is a representation of what they are: their call for the disclosure of information, for the integration of the PMC and for genuine emotions.
Therefore, there is a need to understand and assimilate this new form of participation as Türkiye goes through its democratic transition. Educators, policy makers, and journalists must abide by Gen Z’s digital-oriented mindset.
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