Erdogan’s Turkey Faces a Growing Exodus Ahead of Elections
Fed up with the economy and a political crackdown, young Turks are increasingly looking abroad to find their futures.
ISTANBUL—When Turkish data scientist Bulut Ficici was approached by a Dutch recruiting firm for a Netherlands-based job, he didn’t think twice. Almost a year ago, the 25-year-old packed his bags, left behind his life and friends in Istanbul, and joined an ever-growing exodus of young, disillusioned Turks who say they have, for now, given up on their country.
“I love Turkey, but I wasn’t even able to afford living in a city like Istanbul anymore. Politics and the economy have been going downhill. It was time to go,” he said during a phone call from his apartment in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
As elections, now set to take place on May 14, are fast approaching, many Turks are voting with their feet, citing mistrust of the government, a crackdown on freedom of speech, inflation, and deteriorating business opportunities as part of the reason. More than 70 percent of people ages 18 to 25 said they would prefer to live elsewhere while more than 60 percent said they didn’t see a good future in Turkey, according to a recent survey by German-based Konrad Adenauer Foundation. But it’s not just the younger population that has been looking for a way out. Turkey has lost the third-most millionaires in the world, according to a report by the Republican People’s Party, the main opposition to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). Published in 2021, the report said that 23,000 businesspeople, including 10,000 millionaires, left Turkey within the span of three years leading up to 2021. In 2020, the outflow of Turkish capital reached almost $44 billion, a steep increase over the $4 billion that flowed out in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment