Jennifer Riis Gotrik

Şilan, 16, has lived her whole life in Turkey, and her parents grew up in Turkey too. “I’m not Turkish. My father is Arab and my mother is Kurdish. I’m half and half.” She tells of a time in primary school when her teacher asked her “Your name is Şilan? Are you Kurdish?” and proceeded to call her a different name. Although Şilan isn’t afraid of her identity, she says many of her friends have two names. They keep one name - the non-Turkish one – hidden, to avoid being ridiculed. “Home is wherever I am with my family. My family is home.”

“All my life I’ve wanted to meet homosexual people. This is my home, I feel safe here. I don’t feel as safe out there.” Although Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to hold a gay pride march and move towards recognition and acceptance of the gay community, Tuğba, 20, and other members of Istanbul’s LGBT community continue to experience discrimination, violence and harassment. “The city is beautiful but the people are not,” she says.

Nora, 17, believes "it's all about passion." Her favorite poet is Nazim Hikmet. “He puts your feelings into words,” she says. She hopes to someday get a tattoo of a wave and a raven, and the place her uncle passed away at a young age. She loves Istanbul and believes religion means hope for the working class.

"People are good, government is bad" says Edil, 14. Her favorite book is The Country of White Lilies, which was, in the past, made a compulsory read in all schools by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. "My fear is that people will stop believing in Atatürk," she says.

“If young people don’t care about politics, the politics will go their own way and we will be the ones affected," says Merve, 15. “There should be more people struggling to make things better, to make the government better for all of us. It’s not impossible, but it is difficult.” When asked the question “What is your identity?” she smiles. “Devrimci,” she says, without a moment of hesitation. Revolutionary.

"There is a security issue in turkey - there should be stricter rules," says Irmak, 12. She enjoys playing handball and volleyball, and with her favorite stuffed animal that she’s slept with for 12 years.

Tabalia, 17, says the happiest day of her life was when her boyfriend asked her to be together with him and she told him she loved him. "I face discrimination in school for being Armenian but it doesn’t bother me."