Necmeddin Bilal Erdoğan, chair of the TGTV Board of Trustees and the AileFest Organizing Committee, said at the opening of AileFest at Istanbul’s Rami Library that the family structure needed to be strengthened and the fertility rate increased.
Speaking at the event held as part of the "Decade of Family and Population," declared at the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Bilal Erdoğan said last year had been the Year of the Family and that this year marked the beginning of the Decade of Family.
"We are experiencing demographic decline"
Bilal Erdoğan argued that Türkiye was experiencing demographic decline and that the process was linked to the weakening of family ties. Saying that economic support alone would not be sufficient to strengthen the family, Erdoğan said a change in mindset was needed across society, placing the family and social solidarity at the center.
Erdoğan said their research with young people showed that the family institution was still viewed as an important source of support. He said young people regarded the family as a guarantee and a refuge, adding that this offered an opportunity to strengthen family ties.
Criticism of individualism and the economic system
Erdoğan said the Westernization process of the past 200 years and the capitalist economic system had influenced social relations. He argued that this structure had strengthened individualism and created an approach that evaluated people through their identity as consumers.
Erdoğan claimed that capitalist centers sought to individualize people and turn them into customers, saying that trends weakening the sense of family needed to be taken into account. He said family-friendly economic support alone would not be sufficient and that society’s attitude toward large families also needed to change.
Erdoğan said society needed to return to an approach that supported having children and living with extended families. He added that during the 10-year period declared by the state, public institutions, employers and civil society organizations should develop policies supporting families.
Additional scholarship payments for married students and those with children
Speaking about practices at the İlim Yayma Foundation, Erdoğan said they had introduced new regulations to make master’s and doctoral scholarships more family-friendly. He said the monthly doctoral scholarship was 35,000 lira, while married scholarship recipients received 42,500 lira, and recipients with children received an additional 5,000 lira for each child.
Erdoğan said students receiving support for doctoral studies abroad should also be supported in their decisions to marry. He said they directed philanthropists to support young people wishing to marry at Ibn Haldun University, adding that young people should not delay starting families.
Erdoğan said employers should also develop family-friendly practices and that they could supplement the incentives provided by the state. He added that universities, intellectuals and civil society organizations should work on economic and social models that take families into account.
Emphasis on the fertility rate
Erdoğan said fertility could not be explained solely by women’s participation in the workforce, adding that the fertility gap between employed and unemployed women was 0.3. He said this was not an issue limited to women and that family policies concerned men, women and society as a whole.
Erdoğan said the fertility rate had fallen to 1.42 and needed to rise again to 1.5 and 2. Recalling that President Erdoğan had long called for three children, Bilal Erdoğan argued that institutional steps and a change in mindset had been delayed.
AileFest can be visited until October 4
Bilal Erdoğan said AileFest contributed to families spending time together and to municipalities and civil society organizations developing family-friendly practices. He said the event reflected the culture of solidarity maintained in Anatolia for centuries and that different generations spending time together would strengthen family ties.
AileFest will welcome visitors at Istanbul’s Rami Library from September 26 to October 4. Organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of National Education, the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Istanbul Governor’s Office, the event features culture and arts, books, education, sports and workshop programs for children and parents.
Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül and AK Party Istanbul Provincial Chairman Abdullah Özdemir also attended the opening program. The program continued with a tour of the festival grounds after a family photograph was taken.
