As the Youth Organizations Forum (GoFor), we submitted a stakeholder report to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee in collaboration with our member organizations. The report addresses issues related to youth rights in Türkiye and provides policy recommendations for the country’s review under the 4th Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
The UPR is a global mechanism that reviews the state of human rights within the UN member states every four and a half years. It monitors human rights performance and aims to promote improvement in areas deemed necessary. During this process, member states make recommendations to one another on the state of human rights, and countries take steps to implement these suggestions. Submitting a report within the UPR framework allows civil society organizations to provide independent assessments and recommendations on a country’s state of human rights.
Our stakeholder report to the UN evaluates access to youth rights in Türkiye and offers policy recommendations to address violations within this framework. The report covers 10 themes: the definition of youth, health, housing, education, political participation, freedom of expression, combating discrimination, freedom of association, employment, and gender. It aims to highlight the structural challenges young people face regarding their human rights and propose viable solutions to these issues.
The report’s key findings are as follows:
- In Türkiye, youth are defined by a protective and paternalistic approach within legal frameworks, which limits their autonomy and access to rights.
- Young people face significant barriers to accessing basic healthcare services. Structural socio-economic obstacles to improving their physical, mental, and sexual health are worsening their overall well-being.
- Development policies that conceptualizes housing as a means of financial investment and acquiring profit rather than a fundamental human right exacerbate the housing crisis for youth. The rapid increase in housing and rental prices due to such conceptualization is deepened by the current economic crises, which make it nearly impossible for young people to secure adequate housing.
- Inequalities in education are deepening. Many young people are unable to pursue their education due to the economic crises and insufficient educational support. Those who manage to do so often face spaces devoid of academic freedom, stemming from undemocratic interventions in universities.
- Political participation of youth is highly restricted. The lack of policies and political agendas addressing issues they face in their daily lives and material conditions fuels their scepticism and disengagement from political participation mechanisms. Those attempting to engage in such mechanisms face structural barriers that prevent them from exercising their right to participation.
- Youth cannot fully enjoy freedom of expression. Both young individuals and youth organizations face arbitrary prosecutions and detentions when they express critical opinions or engage in activism. Their efforts to advocate for and realize their rights are systematically criminalized.
- Young people, particularly those marginalized by their gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnic background, experience discrimination. LGBTQI+ and migrant youth face even more severe forms of discrimination.
- Systematic pressures on youth organizations and university groups restrict freedom of association, making it increasingly difficult for young people to participate in civil society.
- Türkiye’s economic policies fail to generate demand for quality employment, instead fostering a labor market reliant on precarious and irregular work. Youth are therefore confronted with rising unemployment and insecure working conditions.
- Family-centred social policies significantly hinder young women and LGBTQI+ individuals from accessing their individual rights and freedoms. The lack of effective mechanisms to address violence, abuse, and discrimination perpetuates these challenges.
Contributing Organizations:
- Ali İsmail Korkmaz Foundation (ALİKEV)
- Kaos Gay Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL)
- Nilüfer City Council Youth Assembly (NGM)
- Roma Youth Association
- Social Economic Cultural Development Support Association (SEKDER)
- Society Support Association (TDD)
- Toy Youth Association
- University Queer Studies and LGBTI+ Solidarity Association (UniKuir)
- Young Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Intersex Youth Studies and Solidarity Association (Genç LGBTİ+ Derneği)
