Over 65 million people are eligible to vote, and around one in four votes can come from those between the ages of 18 and 30. The election booths are lined up in Istanbul – at one of them well-grown women and men have lined up to get free shopping nets with the logo of AKP – Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party. A little further away leaflets are being handed out for the opposition candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroglu. A young couple is leaning against the polling booth. – A lot is at stake in this election, says 30-year-old Enigin Yallagøz. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – Life and death for Turkey – It’s about life and death for Turkey, says Enigin Yallagøz. The 30-year-old hopes Erdogan and the presidential system that has given him so much power will disappear. He refers to him as a dictator, and thinks Erdogan has lost his vision when he criticizes the young for not getting married. – We don’t have a choice – we can’t afford to get married, says the 30-year-old as he holds his girlfriend around. At the last election, every fourth voter was between the ages of 18 and 29. More than 5 million have never voted before when they now go to the polls, nor do they remember any other leader than Erdogan. – My parents will vote for Erdogan, but I haven’t decided yet, says Gokdeniz Bayir. The 19-year-old sits on a low stool at a small table at an outdoor cafe in a conservative district of Istanbul. Comrades Efe Kutluata (tv) and Gokdeniz Bayir are very involved in the presidential election. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – For me it is between Kiliçdaroglu and Erdogan, he says. It is about these two, although there are also other candidates. The 18-year-old friend is upset that he is even considering voting for the incumbent president. – I’m trying to get him to change, but I don’t think he fully understands, says Efe. The 18-year-old says he hardly knows any young people who will vote for Erdogan, because everyone wants a change. – Because things are not going well in this country, says Efe. President Erdogan gives an election campaign speech in Istanbul on Friday last week. Photo: Francisco Seco / AP Fighting for his political life Recep Tayyip Erdogan is fighting for his political life after 20 years in power in the most exciting election campaign in many years. He leads a moderate Islamist party and has gained increasing power since becoming prime minister in 2003. His party, the AKP, has won every national election since. When Erdogan is now running for president for the third time, a lot is at stake. Erdogan’s challenger is being called Turkey’s Gandhi. Kemal Kiliçdaroglu likes to campaign from the kitchen counter. He leads a non-religious party, has promised to strengthen democracy and has said he will step down after a term. Kemal Kiliçdaroglu is Erdogan’s challenger in the election. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news It is very even between the two. An average of the last ten opinion polls in April gives Kilicdaroglu 47.5 percent while Erdogan gets 44.4. When it comes to support among young people, one of several polls shows that only 20 percent of those aged 18 to 25 support Erdogan. Erdogan has canceled several election campaign events in the past three days due to illness. He fell ill during a TV interview on Tuesday. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said he was affected by a stomach infection. There has been much speculation about Erdogan’s state of health. But on Saturday he was back in the menagerie. Then he was on stage during a festival in Istanbul. Berk Esen is an associate professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – Democracy is in the pot – If Erdogan wins, it will be difficult to change the government through normal means in the future, believes Berk Esen, associate professor of politics at Sabancı University in Istanbul. He believes that democracy itself lies in the pot, and describes Turkey’s development as a place between Venezuela and Hungary. – If he wins, it will be more difficult for the opposition to ever change anything. Erdogan will tighten further. But for the first time in many years, the opposition has an opportunity to win. To achieve that, Erdogan’s challenger must have the support of three groups, Esen believes. – Kemal Kilisdaruglo must have support from the young, from the nationalists who don’t like Erdogan and from the Kurds. Three friends in Gezi Park. From left: Alp Çobanoğlu (25), Hasan Basri Berker (17) and Resul Huseynzade (18). Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – Last hope Three friends are sitting in Geziparken. Hasan Basri Berker turns 18 four days before the election on 14 May. During the unrest in the park in 2013, he was only 8 years old. The protests began because there were plans to remove 600 trees, but they developed into a protest against the country’s regime. – I remember hearing the sound of stones being thrown and of shooting, and understood for the first time what politics was about, says Hasan. He and 18-year-old Resul Huseynzade have decided. – I am voting for Kilisdaroglu, but will vote for another party in the parliamentary elections. Kilisdaroglu is the last hope in Turkey, says Resul. Many young people have left the country – and the question is whether any of the candidates have good solutions to reverse the trend. Hasan says that the question of whether it is possible to continue living in this country makes him sad and worried. He wonders if the young people have to look around for a future in another country. – Autocracy or democracy? Development or corruption? This is what we have to choose between. After this election, our country will see better days. I believe that we young people will continue to elect better leaders after this election. Hassan. – If the same government is elected again, all young people will flee Turkey. But we have hope, says Hasan. Enigin Yallagøz (30) together with and her boyfriend. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news Enigin Yallagøz has the same concern. – I can’t bear to think about what will happen if Erdogan wins, he says. While many of his friends are considering leaving Turkey if that happens, he says he will stay – This is my country, I will fight to the end.
ttn-69
– Don’t know any young people who want to vote for Erdogan – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
