Erdogan has spent much of his tenure at the helm of the Turkish government encouraging Muslim Turks to have more children and raise large families — with, according to Turkish statistics authorities, minimal success. He has previously declared it a Turkish Islamic duty to have more children and condemned the use of birth control as “treason,” insisting women have a responsibility to the government to have children.
Like many countries of medium wealth and above, Turkey’s population increases have slowed at education rates and female employment have risen.
The government documented the national fertility rate in Turkey for 2024 at 1.48 children per woman of child-bearing age, far below the 2.1 rate needed to ensure the population replaces itself as the elder generations pass away. While the rate is higher than in countries facing cataclysmic population declines such as South Korea (0.79) and Japan (1.20), Turkey’s fertility rate is under America’s 1.60, which remains a policy issue for the American government given it does not ensure population replacement.
Erdogan commented on the nation’s birth rate at an event in Ankara called the “Family and Culture-Arts Symposium,” in which he also weighed in to oppose “LGBT movements” and “gender neutrality.”
“Our population is increasing, but the rate it is increasing is declining. According to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), last year’s fertility rate was 1.48,” Erdogan observed in his remarks, according to the pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah. “No one who cares about the future of this country can remain indifferent in the face of this reality.”
“Young people tend to marry at a later age nowadays, according to the data. Our society is putting more emphasis on living individually, and people are getting lonelier,” he added.
Erdogan particularly highlighted the low fertility rate “among employed women,” observing that “unemployed women also have a declining birth rate” rather than blaming the employed women. He used his statements to demand that men facilitate lifestyles that encourage women to have more children.
“Certainly, the main factor here is that women are getting lonelier, especially in cities. To be honest, women cannot receive sufficient support from their spouses while rearing children,” he reportedly said. “Most of the burden is on women’s shoulders. I call upon all fathers to help their wives more and spend more time with their children.”
Erdogan’s tone has shifted dramatically from prior calls for bigger families. In 2014, for example, rather than promoting more active fatherhood, Erdogan condemned women who “engaged in the treason of birth control.” In 2014, however, Turkey’s birth rate was still above replacement. The country hit that negative milestone in 2017, a year after Erdogan launched a massive crackdown on political opposition, imprisoning tens of thousands of people following an alleged failed “coup” against him in July 2016.
At the Symposium on Thursday, Erdogan also used his time to condemn “cultural imperialism” and tolerance of gay people threatening Turkish culture. Reports from Turkish media did not indicate that Erdogan identified any threats of “cultural imperialism” from specific countries or regions.
“We are taking measures against gender-neutrality impositions and LGBT movements, allowing no concessions or complacency,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Erdogan reportedly focused primarily on the birth rate, however, which he said was “sounding loud alarm bells for our future.”
Turkey’s Statistical Institute (TUIK) published its latest fertility rate statistics in May, finding a birth rate nationally of 1.48.
“This figure marks a significant yet steady demographic shift for the country, where the fertility rate was 2.38 in 2001 but has steadily declined since 2014, plummeting to 1.51 in 2023,” the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported at the time. “The total fertility rate in Türkiye has remained below 2.10, the threshold at which a population maintains equilibrium without shrinking, for the past eight years. ”
The newspaper noted that the statistics revealed “stark” differences in fertility across the country, noting that in some provinces the fertility rate remained far above replacement rate. Şanlıurfa, the most prolific province, was found to have a birth rate of 3.28. Notably, college graduates were found to have the lowest birth rates.
Turkish Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas warned in remarks to Parliament last week that about half of Turkish families have no children, an unsustainable status quo.
“The population issue is a matter of our country’s survival, and 50 percent of households do not have children,” Goktas noted, describing the lack of children as the “root of many social problems.”
Erdogan launched an initiative called “Year of the Family” in early 2025, introducing various financial incentives for new families, particularly for those who give birth to multiple children. As statistics for the entire year are not yet available, the success of this program remains unclear.
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