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Turks Defy Erdogan's Islamist Social Engineering

(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Burak Bekdil - In 2012, Turkish President Erdogan declared his political mission to be "raising devout generations." Recent surveys indicate that his 18-year reign has failed to achieve his broader political mission. Turkish pollster Konda found in 2019 that Turkish youths were less likely than the wider population to call themselves "religious conservative." They were also less likely to fast, pray regularly, or, if female, cover their hair. Another survey revealed that 54% of imam school students do not feel they belong at their school, compared to 27-29% of students at non-religious schools. A survey by Ipsos found that only 12% of Turks trust Islamic clerics. When SODEV, a Turkish foundation, asked young people aged 15-25 whether they would live abroad if given the chance, 47% of those youths who said they supported Erdogan's AKP said they preferred to live abroad. Another of Erdogan's social engineering failures is the greying of Turkey. Since 2008, he has repeatedly urged Turkish families to have at least three children - "four or five if possible." Yet Turkey is now reproducing below the 2.1 rate required to maintain the population at current levels.
2020-07-13 00:00:00
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