Turkiye's push for high birth rates

ALARMED by the fact that Turkish women are having fewer children, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved to tackle falling birthrates - “a threat greater than war” - through policies designed to bring on the babies.

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After declaring 2025 Turkiye’s “Year of the Family”, Erdogan last month announced 2026 would mark the start of the “Decade of the Family”.

But his pleas for women to have at least three children and offers of financial incentives for newlyweds may not be enough as Turkiye grapples with a deepening economic crisis.

Official figures show Turkiye’s birthrate has fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.48 in 2025 - lower than in France, Britain or the United States - in what Erdogan, a 71-year-old pious Muslim and father-of-four, has denounced as “a disaster”.

During his 22 years in office - first as premier, then president - fertility rates have dropped sharply in this country of 85 million people.

Erdogan has blamed both women and LGBTQ “perverts”.

“Women and LGBTQ+ individuals are considered the only culprits for the declining population growth rate, with no acknowledgement of political mistakes,” said retired academic and feminist activist Berrin Sonmez.