Daily News Egypt
December 3, 2009 Thursday

Turkish youth bridging the political divide

NEW YORK: Islamic and secular groups in Turkey have long struggled for
political control. Since the median age in Turkey is 27, Turkish youth
are caught in the middle of this struggle – but they are also
redefining it.

Organizations affiliated with Islamic and secular political groups
seek to strengthen their presence among youth. Over the past two
decades, Islamic organizations in particular have been very successful
in their youth outreach and have provided them with educational and
cultural services, including after-school activities for high school
students and housing for college students across the country. In fact,
the current president, prime minister and head of parliament were all
recruited as teenagers by the youth arm of a religious-leaning
political party.

Secular-leaning organizations, such as the Ataturk Thought Association
and the Association in Support of Contemporary Living, have only
recently emerged as potentially powerful alternatives to the existing
political parties. Growing numbers of youth are loyal to these groups
because they provide thousands of scholarships to university students
who come from poor families.

I spent the past year at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul conducting
a field-based study of more than 1,500 young men and women in Turkey,
from the ages of 18 to 25, to document the social, political and
psychological effects resulting from this political tension. To ensure
proper representation of Turkey’s diverse populations, we also
interviewed Kurdish, Turkish Alawite and Armenian youth, as well as
unemployed young people and those residing in rural areas.

The results demonstrate that despite the divisive political discourse
between Islamic and secular political groups, young people in Turkey
manage to maintain a balanced hybrid identity.

In fact, when asking youth about their political party affiliations,
we found that two-thirds of respondents identify with "Kemalism", the
main ideological force behind the secular movement, but only a third
were willing to vote for the secular party. Among those who said they
voted for the religious-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP)
currently in power in Turkey, the number of Kemalist youth reached 38
percent.

We found that youth rejected the "either-or" political paradigm and
wanted a more balanced, hyphenated approach to political
identification. Respondents were passionate in explaining that their
religious beliefs do not necessarily dictate their political views
and, alternatively, that upholding a secular political ideology does
not mean that they must abandon Islam and its traditions.

At the same time, young people noted in no uncertain terms that they
struggle to establish this hybrid identity in a political atmosphere
that is becoming increasingly polarized. Specifically, they feel that
when they experience discrimination, it is most often based on their
political beliefs, rather than their ethnicity or gender.
Surprisingly, even Kurdish youth – which among all ethnic groups
experience the most discrimination based on ethnicity – felt the same
way.

Unfortunately, even though youth do not find the secular-Islamic
political division meaningful for their lives, there is not one single
major political or youth-focused organization that is devoted to
bridging the gap between secular and Islamic political movements.
Given the growing intensity of the division and the demand for a more
conciliatory tone to political debate, it is surprising that no such
organization or political party has yet emerged.

At present, it is unclear how this young generation will shape the
future of the Turkish political landscape. What is clear from the
study’s findings, however, is that Turkish youth do not find the
secular-Islamic political divide meaningful in their lives; in fact,
they find it quite stressful and feel obligated to affirm a hyphenated
identity. What we need are youth-focused organizations and political
parties that can help the country’s youth move beyond the divisive
discourse and nurture a new, balanced identity.

With the right kind of help, Turkish youth could truly change the
political calculus in Turkey and help us move beyond the "clash of
civilizations" framework that pits Islamic values against secular
ideals. This generation of Turkish youth may provide hope that there
is a third way. This is the generation to watch.

Selcuk R. Sirin, PhD (sirins@gmail.com) is Assistant Professor of
Applied Psychology at New York University and co-author of Muslim
American Youth: Understanding Hyphenated Identities Across Multiple
Methods. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service
(CGNews).