Turkish President Recep Taip Erdogan has declared 2025 as the “year of the family”. Promoting a conservative image of the family is another attempt by his justice and development party (AKP) to shape Turkish society according to its world vision.
He has been in power over 20 years, Erdogan has made it clear what he considers it. In 2008, she told Turkish women to “give birth at least three times” to address the falling birth rate and subsuant aging population. “We want to raise a religious youth,” he repeated Bhavna several times in 2012.
The “year of the family” is going to emphasize traditional and Islamic values in family policy. The idea is to strengthen the family’s idea as an institution. Erdogan has warned of a “cultural erosion” and criticized the family image at several popular media outlets in Türkiye. When he is presented his new campaign, he spoke of “the policy of genderlessness”, which is “attacking” the family.
Cultural suzerainty in family policy
Women’s Rights Activists have criticized the campaign, want to create a “cultural dominance” in family policy on the government and to standardize the Turkish society according to their own norms.
At the end of the last year, Erdogan signed a decree on the “family status”, which laid the foundation for the government’s new campaign. A female rights activist and lawyer, Celin Nakipoglu, said that the idea was to make the basis of Turkish family law, which is currently secular, on the principles of Sharia, Islamic law.
He said that it would be an old-fashioned role model and gender-based inquiries “and sweep women and children under the carpet to male violence towns.” He said that “the so -called year of the family to strengthen the subordinate role of women in society” and “increase the exploitation of payment and unpaid work.”
He said that the fact was experienced that Türkiye was experiencing a serious economic crisis. “We currently live in unprecedented poverty. The government needs the necessary hospitals from the real problem, and at the same time keep the society together. But the only failure of the conversation should be responsible for severe poverty.”
‘We will stop the Feheyides’
Over the years, the rights of women in Türkiye have disappeared and there are annually a high number of annual women who are growing. According to Türkiye, we will stop the stage of Famicides, 394 women were killed in 2024. In addition, 259 suspected deaths were recorded. In 2023, 315 Famicides and 248 suspected deaths occurred.
In many cases, suspected criminals are not punished, and this is regularly resentment in society. In 2021, Turkey withdrew from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Conference.
Can Gulell, Chairman of the Federation of Women’s Association of Türkiye, especially important for the latest campaign of the government. “2025 should not have been declared the year of the family, but the year to stop the feminine,” he said. “The discovery of only one decision would have inspired women’s confidence.”
However, she continued, the government is not making a policy for women. “Originally, women want their fundamental right of life to be preserved. In a country where so many women are killed, there should be a top priority to protect this right.
He called for concrete steps to fight violence against women: “We are already proposing solutions, but no one is listening to us. A system that is indirect to protect women, families Can not strengthen. “
Birth rate falling
Güllü said that the government itself was responsible for the problem he wanted to solve. He explained that the birth rate fell due to sometimes the economic situation that works sometimes due to lack of possibilities for many Turks, as well as many people in the legal system.
So far, the Turkish government’s family policy has failed to generate results. In 2013, the target was to raise the birth rate for more than 2.1 children per woman, but 10 years later it fell for 1.5 children by the woman.
According to Ismat Coke, a demographic expert at Hecetip University in Turkish capital Ankara, the government set an incorrect course in the past: “Financial incentives, childcare services and measures to work for women’s work Are insufficient for.
The government now wants to take counterants. It announced new incentives at the beginning of the year: for the first time an interest-free loan equal to € 4,000 (about $ 4.150) for the mother desirous of getting married and cashing in cash. There are plans to implement childcare features and increase profit for children born after January 1, 2025.
Koc said, “At first glance, thesis’s views are compared to the current policy.” There was any increase in the rate of birthday, it would not be permanent.
This article was translated from German.
