National Assembly in April: Youth Issues Factsheet
This policy brief summarizes the highlights, speeches, and key data concerning youth-related issues in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in April, based on information compiled from the Assembly’s published minutes. A particularly noteworthy issue for April concerns the armed incidents that took place in schools in the provinces of Şanlıurfa and Kahramanmaraş. In this context, Arayüz Campaign included in its summary the speeches of Members of Parliament addressing young people’s vulnerability to crime and the root causes of technology addiction, while excluding discussions focused solely on child and school safety on the grounds that they fall outside the specific scope of this brief. Throughout April, youth-related issues were discussed a total of 50 times in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Key Themes
Negative Effects of Technology: Members of Parliament stated that increasing digital addiction today negatively affects young people’s sense of belonging to real life. They further noted that, as a result, young people’s vulnerability to crime has increased. Digital addiction was mentioned a total of 6 times, while the decline in sense of belonging was mentioned 2 times. By political party, the issue was raised by MPs as follows:
- 3 times by İYİ Party MPs
- 2 times by MHP MPs
- 1 time by a CHP MP
- 1 time by an AKP MP
- 1 time by a Felicity Party MP
Young People’s Vulnerability to Crime: The issue of young people becoming vulnerable to crime due to factors such as economic poverty and digital addiction was raised 5 times in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Members of Parliament emphasized that solving these problems requires a long-term approach and underlined, in particular, the importance of effective economic policies in this regard. By political party, the issue was mentioned as follows:
- 2 times by DEM Party MPs
- 1 time by a CHP MP
- 1 time by an MHP MP
- 1 time by a Future Party MP
Youth Hopelessness: Young people’s vulnerability to crime and youth hopelessness are deeply intertwined issues. Each can function both as a cause and as a consequence of the other. During April, this issue was raised a total of 7 times in Parliament. By political party, the issue was mentioned as follows:
- 2 times by İYİ Party MPs
- 2 times by DEM Party MPs
- 2 times by DEVA Party MPs
- 1 time by a CHP MP
Internship and Apprenticeship Grievances: Members of Parliament addressed the social security-related grievances experienced by young people in the early stages of their working lives. This issue was raised a total of 6 times. By political party, it was discussed as follows:
- 4 times by CHP MPs
- 1 time by an İYİ Party MP
- 1 time by an independent MP
Young People’s Inability to Marry or Start a Family: Opposition MPs addressed this issue not only by emphasizing the decline in the population growth rate, but also by drawing attention to economic poverty and insufficient employment opportunities. The issue was raised a total of 7 times. By political party, it was discussed as follows:
- 4 times by İYİ Party MPs
- 2 times by CHP MPs
- 1 time by a DEVA Party MP
Notable Data
Youth-related issues were brought to the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly 50 times throughout April. By political party, CHP addressed these issues 23 times, the Felicity Party 7 times, İYİ Party 7 times, AKP 6 times, and MHP 5 times. MPs from DEM Party and DEVA Party each addressed youth-related issues 4 times.
Conclusion
The armed school incidents in Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa constituted the main youth-related issue discussed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly in April. Members of Parliament addressed the issue under sub-themes such as “digital addiction”, “young people’s increasing isolation”, “young people’s lack of belonging” and “vulnerability to crime.” As Arayüz Campaign, we will examine in greater detail the developments affecting young people and youth representation in our future work.