Füsun is a geological engineer who has been married for three years. She lives in one of Turkey’s southeastern provinces that were damaged in February’s major earthquake. These days, Füsun is making preparations to leave the country with her husband. When asked why, she explains that everything is getting worse and worse in Turkey. One sentence in particular sums it up: “I don’t want to have children in this country.”
Aliye, who has worked as a doctor in the Black Sea region, shared similar sentiments. She says she has been studying German for a year with her colleague husband and another couple who are also doctors. Their plan is to pass the language exam and settle in Germany. Turkey has recently lost many of its doctors to countries abroad, especially to Germany. When asked why, Aliye pointed out the recent rise in violence towards medical professionals in Turkey. “This country has consumed us”, she said, adding: “I don’t want to have children in Turkey.”
Musa, another medical professional who settled in Sweden at the beginning of 2018, shares a similar anecdote: “A colleague of mine said that he had learned how to survive in Turkey, but he did not want his children to be forced to do the same. His words never left my mind. After a while, we left the country too. Our daughter, now 9 years old, is extremely happy in Sweden.”
Searching for a good school
Children play a large role in the decision of many Turks to leave the country. Salim, for example, a father of two who settled in the Netherlands, said: “My children are getting a good education. If they had stayed in Turkey, they would have just been taking tests. Here, at the age of 9, my child is learning to debate.”
Almost all of the people I interviewed who had children said that they did not trust public schools in Turkey and that they had difficulty in paying the prices of private schools due to the collapsing value of the Turkish Lira. None complained about the education systems in their adopted countries; on the contrary, many seemed to believe that the public schools in their host countries are of higher quality than private schools in Turkey.
Mahmut, who has lived in Dubai for five years, says: “If you refuse to include religious and political indoctrination in your child’s education, you are despised, targeted, threatened and humiliated.”
Mahmut seemed to believe that this is a concern shared by many emigrants of Turkey: “My only concern is a school where my child can go, a city where he can walk comfortably on the streets and live his youth. And, of course, friendships where he can live without fear.”
41-year-old Erhan, who settled in England a year ago, was also one of the many people who named children as a top concern in the choice to emigrate: “I have a five-year-old son. My wife works for an international company and I take care of our child. We want to offer our son a global life. We should give him the right to choose.” Another anecdote from Erhan points to an issue expressed by many Turkish emigrants: “Good thing we don’t have a daughter!”
“Everything for my daughter!”
Many emigrants, especially women, express the view that women’s issues in Turkey are a major reason for leaving. Turkey pulled out of the Istanbul Convention in 2021, a Council of Europe Treaty aimed at fighting violence against women. The move drew outrage from many segments of Turkish society, especially at a time when femicides in the country were on an uptick. Additionally, the increasing Islamization of Turkish society over the past 20 years under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has led many secular-leaning Turkish citizens to believe that the country is no longer a suitable place to raise their daughters.
Birgül, an industrial engineer who settled in Germany two years ago, expressed such concerns about raising daughters in today’s Turkey: “We have two little girls. We were actually well off in Turkey. We applied [to move abroad] for them. Until the children go to university, this will be our approach. After that, we’ll see.”
Ayşen, a mechanical engineer, settled in the Netherlands in 2019 despite a very successful career back in Turkey. The birth of her daughter was a major reason for the decision: “Once I had a daughter , I quickly made up my mind. I left the country with my children when my daughter was only three months old. My husband came over later.”
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Uluç, who has been living in Canada since 2017, named a few reasons for leaving Turkey: “The economy, earthquake, the future of the family, and the repressive state that pulls you down.”“Also,” he said, “I have daughters.”
After chatting with Uluç for a while, he sent the following message: “It’s pretty interesting; I bet 30 years ago you would’ve heard from the Islamist segment of society that they are sending their girls abroad for education. Today, you are hearing it from the secular segment.”
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
