What’s Happening to Young Dissidents in Türkiye Echoes Everywhere

Freedoms in Türkiye have been under attack for a very long time. Yet, large parts of the public, led by the youth, refuse to stay silent, just like their peers in many other countries. We should support them. 

 On 19 March 2025, Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and main rival to Erdoğan in a primary for the 2028 presidential election, was detained along with 108 associates on alleged charges of ‘corruption’ and ‘terrorism’. His university diploma, valid for 30 years, was abruptly revoked to prevent him from qualifying for the elections. This move is a mockery of justice, particularly as so much of the corruption and cronyism investigations into the ruling party's municipalities largely escape scrutiny and prosecution. Instead, journalists, lawyers and whoever exposes wrongdoings are routinely targeted and penalized.  

In an inspiring show of unity, youth-led protests erupted in Istanbul and across Türkiye, doubling in size each day. Despite a ban on public demonstrations, the protests brought together previously entrenched and fragmented political factions into action. Hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets, culminating in a rally attended by around two million people on 29 March. In a symbolic gesture, in a single day, 15 million people voted to support İmamoğlu as their candidate for president. These peaceful protests are a powerful reminder that, even after decades of crackdowns, new generations continue to speak up. 

Meanwhile, the government is tightening its grip. According to the Ministry of Interior 1,583 people have been detained since 19 March, including 301 individuals aged between 15-30. Most were arrested for participating in a protest or speaking up on social media, including on platforms like X, which claims to champion free speech yet complies with government requests to expose and censor accounts. Too many have been picked up at dawn for expressing their views, and subjected to ill-treatment and jail time on trumped-up charges. Social media networks are stifled by low bandwidth, and journalists are arrested for reporting on police violence in the streets. The few remaining independent networks are shut down at will, fined, and threatened with license revocation. 

PEN International and other freedom of expression organisations have responded to threats and violence against journalists, media outlets and online censorship. According to Reporters Without Borders, 90% of the media in Türkiye is now under government control. There is almost no space left for truth to be reported and expressed, and for mounting dissent to be heard. 

The youth in Türkiye have suffered enough from this lack of space in every sense. Economic hardship, injustice, inequality and anti-democratic practices make for a boiling pot. Most have only ever known Erdoğan's party in power for 23 years, their rights and voices stifled by a government that fuels divisions.  

Today, one in three people aged 15 to 29 in Türkiye is neither working nor in school. Youth unemployment has hit a record high, according to Futurebright Research Group, one of the country’s leading market research firms. 

With fewer prospects leading to growing frustrations, young people struggle to be heard amid censorship, restrictions on civil liberties, authoritarianism and a lack of free expression. Their struggles mirror those of many other young people worldwide - soaring rents, rising unemployment, gutted healthcare systems, hoarded wealth, climate collapse, war, racism, and repression at home and in other lands.  

This fuels anger. Injustice and oppression breed deepening grievances, and when these persist long enough, backlash becomes inevitable.  

Yet, young people speaking out against such issues are increasingly targeted, marginalized and criminalized in a growing list of countries, from China to Russia, Serbia to Georgia, Kenya to Myanmar, Türkiye to Bangladesh, and others. Recently in the USA hundreds of foreign students were ordered to self-deport or face forcible removal for their pro-Palestine campus activism, including attending protests or posting on social media. The crackdown on free expression globally signals the muzzling of reactions to a confluence of various crises. Young people who stand to inherit these crises are at the frontline, fostering solidarity, confronting shared struggles, and searching for a way forward. 

I'm one of many whose lives were upended by autocratic rule. I was a university student when my family was targeted for my father's journalism. He was arrested and imprisoned in the same prison where Istanbul's mayor is now being held. As the editor of the oppositional paper Cumhuriyet, he was jailed on trumped up charges, and my mother and I began campaigning for his release. The prosecution sought two life sentences over a single, irrefutable story. Although the Supreme Court later ordered his release, he was attacked outside a courthouse by a gunman, and soon after, all our assets and passports were seized. We had no choice but to flee the country. As a 20-year-old, it was crushing to face the full weight of the state, from the judiciary and media to the police. But it would've been much harder to cope had it not been for the scores of people stepping up and showing solidarity with us, locally and internationally. Like a chain of support. That's how I found out about and joined PEN International, the world's largest association of writers. They supported and amplified my father’s voice and mine, carrying them across their global network, just as they have done for so many other writers at risk, for solely exercising their right to freedom of expression, throughout history. 

Now in that same spirit of resistance and resilience, at PEN International, we're building a network of young writers with representatives from PEN Centres worldwide - the Young Writers Committee. Already, it's clear how deeply our struggles, needs and aspirations transcend borders. We aim to amplify each other's stories, exchange experiences and strategies, and establish supportive, lasting connections for a shared future.  

There is a shared sense of pride in youth that goes beyond ideologies. Though the word youth encompasses a vastly diverse group, now more than ever, we need this collective identity to stand together against urgent challenges.  

 The courage of the youth, and particularly young writers, to challenge the status quo is a catalyst for change. It can nurture cohesion and foster peace in an increasingly polarized world. This is much needed, in Türkiye, as elsewhere. But for much of the world's youth, it's getting harder or more costly to find spaces to speak up. We must come together to create more of these spaces. Young people are often underrepresented or exploited in many sectors. Those standing up and risking everything for their fundamental freedoms, including their freedom of expression, deserve not only praise but concrete support and solidarity. 

 We must actively listen to and respond to the concerns of young people in our communities. When united across divides, their voices bridge differences and inspire hyper individualized societies to rally together.  The protests in Türkiye remind us of this collective power—summed up in the chant: "No Liberty Alone, All of Us or None" It’s a call for broader solidarity at a time when our shared problems and prospects demand connected struggles.