Why Do Diyarbakır’s Young People Look for Their Future in Other Cities?

When I talk with young people in Diyarbakır, the conversation eventually turns to another city. One thinks of Istanbul, another Ankara, another İzmir or Germany. Even those who have not left keep the possibility somewhere in their minds. They grew up here; their families, friends, and memories are here. Yet they plan to build their futures elsewhere.

Moving to another city is not a problem in itself. Leaving for education, work, or to see the world is natural and necessary. The problem begins when departure feels like an obligation rather than a choice. There is a considerable difference between “I want to live somewhere else” and “I cannot move forward if I stay here.”

What do the figures tell us?

According to Turkish Statistical Institute youth data, approximately one in fourteen young people in Türkiye moves between provinces. Finding and starting work are important reasons alongside education. These data are not specific to Diyarbakır, but show that what we hear on our streets is part of a wider national movement.

Diyarbakır must nevertheless be assessed on its own terms. It has a young population, two universities, growing commercial activity, organized industrial zones, a strong regional health sector, and tourism and agricultural potential. On paper, many fields seem available for a young person’s future. But young people do not live on paper.

İŞKUR’s Diyarbakır labor market survey indicates that approximately 47 percent of vacancies require no particular education level, while the share requiring a bachelor’s degree is limited. This figure alone cannot describe the city, but raises an important question: how well do university graduates and the jobs being created match?

You can find a young person a job. But if it does not teach a profession, provide specialization, or offer a path toward greater income and responsibility, they will keep seeking opportunities elsewhere. What retains young people in a city is more than employment; it is hope for the future.

That hope consists of more than salary. Young people want an environment for development, social life, culture, arts and sports, opportunities to meet different people, and room to try an idea. Above all, they want to believe they can advance through their own effort.

A young person from Diyarbakır moving to Istanbul pays higher rent, loses hours in traffic, and lives away from family. If they still leave, the issue is seeing a path ahead, rather than comfort.

We do not have to become Istanbul

Diyarbakır need not compete with Istanbul. It needs to establish its own economic character more strongly. The Karacadağ Development Agency’s 2024–2028 Regional Plan identifies youth employment, reducing migration, and alignment between education and the labor market as central issues. It recommends developing skilled labor in tourism, health, logistics, information technology and software, alongside textiles, food, furniture, footwear, agriculture, and energy.

This roadmap needs concrete implementation. If we discuss technology, we should aim to increase companies selling services from here to Türkiye and the world, beyond a few training programs. If we call ourselves a regional health center, we should grow health tourism, international patient services, and supporting sectors together. If we are an agricultural city, we should discuss businesses that process, brand, package, and export produce, as well as growing it. Sending raw products away also sends potential engineering, marketing, design, and foreign trade jobs to other cities.

I do not want to be misunderstood: I am not saying nobody should leave Diyarbakır. Let young people study in Ankara, work in Berlin, establish companies in America. I too lived in America for years. But when Diyarbakır becomes an option one day, they should consider it because they see good work and a future in which they can grow, alongside longing for home.

Municipalities, universities, businesses, and professional organizations therefore need to ask young people the same question: “What is missing for you to stay here?” Some answers may be uncomfortable. But no youth project prepared without hearing them will find a meaningful place in real life.

Diyarbakır’s young people are its human resources for the next twenty years. If we lose them today, we will pay tomorrow when businesses cannot find staff and new sectors search for specialists.