Towards the 2024 Elections: Youth Initiatives of Political Parties

We scrutinized the social media channels most heavily used by the youth to examine the promises and programs of parties related to youth. We scanned the official X (Twitter) accounts of all parties’ youth branches. Additionally, we included news from media organizations in our scan and reviewed the promises made at events and programs attended by the mayoral candidates for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu and Murat Kurum.

AK Party

1. “My First Vote for My City, My First Vote for AK Party” – The program launched by Deputy Chairman Erkan Kandemir and Youth Branches Chairman, Izmir Deputy Eyyüp Kadir İnan, was also attended by the Minister of Energy, Alparslan Bayraktar, in Diyarbakır.
2. “Passion for Youth” – President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks with the youth in Eskişehir. He mentions women’s reading rooms, Teknofest in Eskişehir, knowledge houses, libraries, science centers, and gyms. “We opened the way for the youth in every field,” he says. Group Chairman Abdullah Güler in Sivas, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Bursa, Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak in Malatya, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya in Iğdır, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç in Rize and Giresun, National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler in Bayburt, and Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir in Izmir attended the meetings.
3. “Youths of Our Neighborhood” – AK Party officials from various provinces and districts met with the youth in their respective areas.
4. “Young Women in Politics” – The event took place on March 8th with the participation of former Minister of Family and Social Policies, Dr. Betül Sayan Kaya, and Youth Branches Chairman, Izmir Deputy Eyyüp Kadir İnan.
5. Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar in Istanbul and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı in Afyon met with the youth.
6. Iftar dinners with the youth were organized, and the “5 Minutes to Iftar” program was held.
7. Murat Kurum, the candidate for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, made several youth promises on a TV program. These include a 100,000 TL grant for young entrepreneurs, a special water bill tariff for the youth, and 25 cubic meters of natural gas support, office space for 100,000 young people, 50,000 TL white goods support for newlyweds, 10,000 TL scholarship for every student, activation of İSMEK, and facilitating the acquisition of a profession.

CHP

1. Chairman Özgür Özel wrote a letter for first-time voters. In the letter, he mentioned dormitory services, education accessibility through “For You to Read” and “Young University Student” programs, employment offices, Youth Card, libraries, internet network, scholarships for young artists, and grants, in-kind, and spatial supports.
2. Youth Branches Chairman Gençosman Killik actively conducts meetings with the youth.
3. The “Youth Will Govern the Cities” program and the digital launch for young candidates, the first of its kind in Turkey, were attended by Özgür Özel, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and Gençosman Killik. İmamoğlu talked about the youth council, the number of beds and dormitory services, libraries, and IPA.
4. Chairman Özger Özel hosted GoFor and signed the Youth Rights Convention.

DEM Party

1. Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan hosted GoFor and signed the Youth Rights Convention.
2. After the DEM Party Youth Council Congress in Diyarbakır, the Youth Council Congress Resolution Statement was published.
3. Ankara candidate Gülten Kışanak wrote a letter to the youth of Ankara, discussing the current state of Ankara, free youth, and young women.
4. With the slogan “We Started Young, We Will Finish Young” Youth Councils in each province organize events.

İYİ Party

1. On March 2nd, Youth Branches General Coordinators Erdi Mert Türk and Emir Abbas Gürbüz were appointed.

TİP

1. Youth activities and projects have been concentrated on Beşiktaş Mayoral Candidate Arzum Yalçın and Bornova Mayoral Candidate Baran Köseoğlu. The focus has been on housing and nutrition problems.
2. The General Headquarters in Ankara organized a memorial for young people who lost their lives in construction.
3. Active student meetings have taken place at Boğaziçi and METU.

Yeniden Refah Party

1. The National Youth has targeted to maintain the number of youth members at a certain level based on provincial quotas.

MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), Gelecek (Future Party), Deva (Democracy and Progress Party), and Saadet (Felicity Party) do not have a specific declaration or program regarding the youth, apart from regular youth branches meetings.