Turkey's nightmare: Brain drain

It started long before Turkey's July 15, 2016 military coup attempt. Slowly but steadily, young professionals, entrepreneurs, engineers, academics and new graduates started leaving their home country in search of a better future. Many of the country's best and brightest do not see any hope of creating better lives and improving their intellectual capacity in their homeland anymore. The reasons are more than political.

When my generation was growing up, state high schools named "Anadolu Liseleri" (Anatolia High Schools) were the best choice for children in smaller towns. They had great teachers, good sports facilities and a very good record of sending their graduates to prestigious universities like Istanbul's Boğaziçi University or Ankara's Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ). 

Going to expensive private schools was almost like an insult in Bursa, where I grew up. Public high schools like the Bursa Girls High School or the Bursa Boys High School, or even the Çelebi Mehmet Vocational School, were brand names. Their students got great marks in exams, winning in Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) competitions or becoming national basketball or volleyball champions. With a little extra effort, you could easily pass the university entrance exam well, even if your parents were public servants.

Now, three decades later, the situation is different. When I talk to my friends, none of them even mention sending their children to public schools anymore. It is as if the schools have disappeared from the universe. Families are sacrificing one child's education over another just to pay for the former. The yearly cost of the private Robert College is 90,000 Turkish Liras. That is about the cost of a community college in...