Turkey, the country where I came from, is having very hard days. Turkey is facing “Stagflation”, which means that high inflation, high unemployment, and economic regression merge at the same time. The government declared that the inflation rate is 21%, but the independent organizations say the real inflation rate is almost 60%. 

In addition, the Turkish Lira is losing its value every day. To explain this better, let me share this data with you: just this October, the exchange rate of the United States Dollar (USD) to the Turkish Lira (TL) was 8,86. In December 2021, the exchange rate is 17,00. So the Turkish Lira has lost 92% of its value in just 2 months. And Turkey is a 70% foreign-dependent country. This means Turkey purchases 70% of the goods and products from other countries. When the exchange rate goes up, so do the prices in the country. In that way, Turkey became a very cheap country for tourists, but also a very expensive country for Turkish citizens. 

Because of the difficult economic situation, people my age want to leave the country, go to Europe or a country that has better opportunities to start a new life there. They don’t care how hard it will be. All they want is to get out of the country that is getting worse every day. They think their youth years are stolen from them by the current system.

After those explanations, I want to stop talking on behalf of the Turkish youth. In the video, they share their own opinions about the country, the current situation, and the future.

How do experts interpret the widening gap between official and perceived inflation in Turkey (BBC News)

Turkish money has no value (NY Times)

Turkish Currency Hits a New Low, Again