Turkish students hold national flags in the ceremony at Anitkabir, Ataturk's mausoleum, in Ankara,Turkey, on May 19, 2018. (Xinhua)
ANKARA, May 27 (Xinhua) -- In a crowded cafe of Kizilay, downtown Ankara, young Turkish people were discussing their daily routine as a campaigner distributes leaflets of a political party which will run in the upcoming general elections.
"If they want our votes, they have to treat us seriously and not only claim our attention just before elections," said Emre Fisek to Xinhua while drinking tea with a group of friends from university.
Fisek, a university freshman, insisted that he is "not particularly interested in politics," but would be keen to participate more in political discussions in his community as he will vote for the first time in the upcoming elections.
The eligibility age was lowered from 25 to 18 in Turkey in recent years.
Turkey is heading for snap legislative and presidential elections on June 24 when 1.6 million new young voters will decide the faith of their democracy for the first time.
The big novelty for them is that most of the parties have presented 18-year-old candidates for a seat in parliament, however their chances of being elected is slim as they are at the bottom of the lists.
About 16 percent of Turkey's overall population is young people between the ages of 15 to 24, and the country's political future depends on reality of the young voters' preferences.
According to research by survey company A&G on the previous 2015 general elections, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) took 29.5 percent of the youth's vote, while the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) took 23.8 percent.
Republican People's Party (CHP), the main opposition, took 23.7 percent, and the nationalist MHP took 18.9 percent of the young people's votes.
"Turkey's most important power is its young and qualified population," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is seeking re-election to shift Turkey from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, approved by referendum last year.
AKP, led by its founder Erdogan, supported by millions of voters, lowered the candidate eligible age to 25 in 2007 and then to 18 in 2016.
"More than half of Turkey's population is under 30 years old and more than a third is younger than 20, so the young vote is crucial," said to Xinhua an AKP official.
The AKP and CHP youth organizations are particularly active in cities and are campaigning intensively since last month. Social media is one of their major tools, as rally, meeting and conference information is shared instantly on Twitter or Instagram.
The AKP has presented 57 candidates aged between 18 and 24 and one of them is self-confident Ibrahim Enes Durmaz who has a potential chance of getting elected in one of capital Ankara's constituencies.
"There is lack of confidence from the society towards young people. The future of the country is being determined by older aged parliamentarians, with a high average age like that they cannot grasp our situation," Durmaz said to Xinhua.
"We want to prove them that we are serious," Durmaz said while emphasizing that the youth must be brought to the fore more.
The young candidate who is still at the senior year of high school, explained that he is genuinely interested in politics and that he worked for four years now in the youth organization of AKP, before getting noticed by the top brass of the party.
Politics will not prevent Durmaz from furthering his studies and he intends to go to law school after entering the college admission tests that will take place a week after the election.
If he's elected, he will be the first parliamentarian to enter the test at his tender age. If not, he will encourage other young people to get interested in politics.
The CHP has also attempted to tap into the huge potential of the young people, with 48 candidates below the age of 25.
In total, 113 young candidates from mainstream parties will race in the elections for the 600-seat parliament.
According to studies, lifestyle is the most important factor determining the youngsters' voting behavior.
Having higher levels of education and residing in an urban area increases the possibility of abstaining, even though participation remains very high in Turkey's elections, at around 80 percent.
