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Reeling from COVID-19 slump, Turkey's demographic challenges loom large

As part of his nationalistic agenda, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been encouraging families to have at least three children, but soaring brain drain and falling birth rates stand as major predicaments in front of his ambitions.
Protesters move away as Turkish police officers intervene during a demonstration in support of Bogazici University students, at Kadikoy in Istanbul, Turkey, April 1, 2021.

Berke Guney Boz is in his last year of high school at a private school in Eskisehir in northwest Turkey. Although he still has many years of education in Turkey ahead of him, he has already made plans for his post-university life. “I want to study computer engineering at a top university, then use the opportunity to study abroad for a few more years, before getting a job in a foreign country,” Boz said. 

“I don’t see any situation where I would want to stay [in Turkey],” he added.

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