Erdoğan urges joint attitude against those promoting life without marriage

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged a joint attitude against those promoting life without marriage, saying that the issue poses a "great danger."

"The number of those who don't get married is increasing. A life style without marriage is being tried to be legitimized and even being encouraged through media," Erdoğan said on Jan. 9, adding that majority of the television channels are campaigning for it.

"We should be careful about these. The way for symbols aiming to eradicate the family establishment is intentionally cleared, while the attitudes promoting the family are belittled. We should oppose this great danger altogether," he also said.

Saying that Western civilizations are "collapsing due to the lack of the concept of family that leads to a decrease in their populations," Erdoğan noted that the family is the backbone of "our national existence."

'Strong nations consist of strong families'

He also advocated for women to give birth to at least three children - a call that he has been making for many years.

"Why am I calling for three children? Because strong nations consist of strong families. They pursued a policy of birth control for years. Why? To make Turkey's population decrease. I'm saying the exact opposite: Our population must increase," Erdoğan said.

"When the family establishment is dispersed, population starts to go down, since no place for children can be found in a place where individuals and their life styles are in control. For this reason, many Western societies will be faced with the threat of being eradicated from the face of the earth after a while," he added.

During his speech, Erdoğan slammed the fact that people are getting married after the age of 30, if they ever do so.

"The marriage age of our youth is increasing. Unfortunately, they don't get married at a young age. Most of them get married after the age of 30 or never do so. How can such a thing happen!" he said, adding that he recommends marriage.

The President said that the new generation learns from observation and thus, families "should exhibit an exemplary family life."

"The solution to many of our problems, mainly violence against women, lies in strengthening the establishment of family," he said.

'Sneaky abuse of humanitarian sensitivities'

Criticizing "the mindset that uses the issue of violence against women in Turkey as an excuse to attack the family establishment," Erdoğan noted that "these people aim to disperse the family rather than protect women."

"For this reason, they try to present a scene of horror that's unrelated to the reality. They try to present our country as a place where women get killed around every corner all the time. These efforts are not well-intentioned," he said, adding that the number of femicides in Turkey are half of those in Europe and one thirds of world average.

"We will never allow the collapse of the family establishment via the sneaky abuse of humanitarian sensitivities," Erdoğan said.

Saying that works will be carried out with the understanding that protects the family with the spirit of mobilization in all areas, including education and the media, Erdoğan noted that the government perceives the issue of strengthening the family as important as security and the economy.