Here and Now; Best country to be young--Turkey. Rural kids are flocking to Istanbul to 'live a modern life'.(Cover Story)

Byline: Owen Matthews

It's nine o'clock on a warm Friday evening in downtown Istanbul, and Taksim Square is packed with young people strolling, chatting, waiting for dates to show up. Most wouldn't look out of place lounging on any southern European piazza--well-groomed youths with slicked-back hair and white shirts, grungy students in combat trousers, pretty girls in Britney Spears tank tops. The only sign that you're in a Muslim country is the fact that some of the girls wear traditional headscarves and long cotton coats, and leave for home before it gets too late. And as night falls, the wail of the call to evening prayer cuts through the pop music blaring from cafes and CD shops.

For three generations, Turkish young people have been pouring into big cities like Istanbul--and been transformed by the move. In 1950, 82 percent of Turks lived on the land--now it's under 35 percent. The population of Istanbul alone has grown nearly 10 times in that period to a whopping 14 million people. Despite the massive influx of rural migrants, Istanbul has remained a very European city--while most of Turkey is far from being a European country. And as Turkey gets ever closer to joining the European Union, there's never been a better time to be young and single in the big city.

For musician Bulent Aydogan, 21, the move to Istanbul was "like joining the real world." Bulent's family uprooted themselves from a small village near Rize, on the Black Sea, when he was 7. "When we go back to the village every summer, I feel like I'm traveling back in time," says Bulent, who plays guitar and sings in bars in downtown Istanbul. "The village will always be part of me... But I want to live a modern life, have girlfriends, drink beer if I want to."

Young people yearning for the bright lights is nothing new--in any country. But in Turkey the phenomenon is also at the forefront of a social revolution that promises to ...