Why can't Erdogan win over Generation Z?
The latest events reveal the diminishing popularity of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan among Generation Z, but will this matter for the next election?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has, since coming to power in 2002, taken pride in representing the “will of the nation” as the person rightfully elected. His love for public opinion polls is well known.
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been gradually losing the support of the younger generations, including those who grew up in households that supported the AKP in the last couple of local and national elections.
The latest evidence of Turkey’s youth disillusionment became clear during an event organized by the president's office. On June 26, Erdogan invited the country's youths to connect via a live stream event on YouTube.
Unlike a meeting orchestrated in a studio setting, the government does not have full control of what happens on social media. During the June 26 event, viewer comments started pouring in with the trending hashtag #Novotesforyou. The negative comments were so many that finally Erdogan’s media team disabled the comments option. This is when the participants started clicking on the dislike or like buttons in order to make their opinions clear. As of today, the video has had just under 3 million views, with 421,000 dislikes and 123,000 likes.
