Turkey’s Erdogan targets LGBTQ+ community in push for 'Year of the Family' initiatives
The Turkish president took swipe at the LGBTQ+ community and at social media as he announced new measures to encourage child birth.
ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday launched a campaign aimed at promoting marriage and addressing Turkey’s declining birth rate, while sharply criticizing LGBTQ+ rights and consumer culture, which he accused of undermining traditional family values.
Erdogan announced last week that Turkey had designated 2025 as the Year of the Family, with the goal of reversing the country’s declining birth rate, which dropped from 2.1 live births per woman in 2014 to 1.51 in 2023.
“The birth rate and population growth rate have reached alarming levels,” Erdogan said, speaking during the launch of the Year of the Family program in Ankara.
“While our child and youth population is shrinking, for the first time in our history, the elderly population has surpassed 10%, and our average age is approaching 34.”
