In the days of uprising, protestors got to know each other, saw their commonalities, learned the value of respecting differences, witnessed forms of support and solidarity that they longed for in their everyday lives, and finally realized their collective power to resist the government's violation of rights and freedoms. What Turkey went through in June 2013 was not a revolution in the classical sense of knocking down the government, but it was definitely a revolution of consciousness. People saw that an alternative was possible. Young people, who had been dismissed for decades as ignorant and apolitical, were in the forefront. One can only hope that young people’s move away from cynicism and the awakening to a collective sense of power and action will lead to a fundamental transformation of Turkish politics and an opportunity for a more democratically and justly governed society.

50,5 % of the population in Turkey is under the age of 30. By the end of 2011, young people between the ages of 14 and 29 years constituted approximately 20 million of our population. In the event that population increase continues in its current state, 70% of the population in Turkey will be at working age in 2023. Turkey is the country, which has the highest proportion of young people to the total population in Europe. Transforming this demographical structure into an advantage can only be possible with effective and qualified youth oriented policies.

Youth is a concept that should be discussed in a sociological meaning rather than just biological. The definition of youth is made according to the era, socio-economic developments, culture and traditions of societies. Therefore, it is not possible to mention a single universally accepted age range for subjective youth definitions. When the conditions of our country are taken into account, individuals between the ages of 14 and 29 are accepted as the target group of youth policies.

The vision of youth policies is to provide opportunities and to establish a ground where young people can truly realize their own potentials as individuals who have international and humanitarian values, respect for the environment, a sense of social belonging, who participate actively in social life, make use fundamental rights and liberties efficiently and who are committed to national and moral values, are informed, self-confident, active and enterprising and at a level to be able to compete with their peers in the international arena.

When the Turkish legislation related to youth is analysed, it appears that young people are considered as a human resource that needs to be trained in a way ensuring the integrity of the state and as a group in society that needs to be protected against bad habits.

Out of the 550 deputies in the Turkish Parliament, there are only 19 people aged 30-35 after the 2007 elections [...]. The most common pattern of political participation among young people is voting and 80% the percentage of young people who vote is estimated around. However, young people do not seem interested in politics and their political participation is low. A survey concluded that only 3.7% of the young people are members of political parties; only 10% talk about politics with their friends; and only 3% are members of any political, social or cultural associations. About 59% of young people do not participate in any club or organisation.