Turkey’s Family and Social Services Minister, Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, warned that the country’s declining birthrate has reached a critical point, revealing to parliament that 50% of Turkish households have no children at all.
Speaking before the parliamentary Planning and Budget Committee, Göktaş said Turkey is facing a sharp fall in fertility and a significant drop in the number of school-aged children. According to projections by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the number of primary school children is expected to drop by 900,000 within five years.
She argued that the weakening family unit is “the root of many social problems,” pushing back against criticism of the government’s decision to designate 2024–2025 as “Family Year.”