Runaway inflation and a collapsing currency have hit the economy hard, while Erdogan has eroded rights and freedoms.
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Hüseyin Büyükdag says he loves Türkiye and his job as a teacher.
But with economic crisis and growing repression at home, he and his wife decided to try to find a better life in Germany.
They are among a growing number of young, educated people looking to leave Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian policies.
Büyükdag said the situation was unlikely to change after Erdogan was awarded a third term in power in May elections.
“Even if I don’t want this, even if I hate this, I’m leaving this beautiful country,” the 27-year-old English teacher told The Associated Press.
Mr. Buyukdag and his wife, a nurse, live in the impoverished southeastern province of Sirnak, where they both earn about 1,640 euros a month as civil servants, just above the official poverty line of 1,462 euros.
This is enough to live on, but far short of what is needed in big cities like Istanbul or the capital, Ankara, and certainly not enough for a young couple to save or start a family.
Turkey has been hit by an economic crisis in recent years: official annual inflation stood at 61% last month but some economists believe the actual figure is double that, and the Turkish lira has collapsed.
Experts have previously told Euronews that Erdogan’s “unconventional” understanding of economic policy is to blame for the country’s woes, but they also pointed to other key factors.
According to a recent report by the Turkish Statistical Institute, almost a third of Turkey’s population is currently at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
For many people, one loophole is to obtain an education visa or work permit to study abroad.
The government statistics agency, the Turkish Statistical Institute, said 139,531 Turkish nationals left the country in 2022, compared with 103,613 in 2021. Those between the ages of 25 and 29 formed the largest group.
This figure is a significant increase from the 77,810 people who left Turkey in 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sociologist Besim Delaloglu attributes part of the exodus of “the most educated members of society” to a decline in democracy. “I don’t see this migration being reversed without reducing polarization in Turkey,” he said.
Delaloglu said medical and IT professionals are the most likely to retire, but also highly trained people in all fields.
In 2022, more than 2,600 doctors applied to the Turkish Medical Association for the necessary documents to carry out medical activities abroad.
Doctors cited low pay, harsh working conditions and increasing violence by disgruntled patients as the main reasons for their decision.
In a speech last year, an exasperated Erdogan said all doctors who wanted to leave “may leave”, before softening his tune and saying they would soon return as Turkey had a “bright future”.
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Many other Turks want to stay even as the country becomes increasingly authoritarian.
“I understand the feelings of people leaving the country. Some things really need to change,” said Fatma Zehra Ekci, a 22-year-old student from Istanbul who said she was a reluctant supporter of Erdogan.
“But if we leave because we don’t feel comfortable here, there will be no one here who can make a difference.”
Serap Ilgin, a 26-year-old copywriter from Istanbul, said he grew up with the values of secular Turkey and its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
“Leaving is not the solution. On the contrary, I think we need to stay here and fight,” she said.
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Discontent is growing in Turkey as the country marks 100 years since Ataturk declared a secular republic after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Meanwhile, President Erdogan has declared the next era the “Turkish Century” and pledged to make Turkey a global power.
