Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Turkish families to have more children, raising his long-standing goal from three to "at least four or five", the "Turkish Minit" reports.
He has warned again that the declining birth rate in Turkey poses a serious threat to the future of the nation.
Erdogan said that the fertility rate, which has fallen to 1.7 children per woman, is tantamount to "suicide" for a country with ambitions for growth.
"Currently, our population growth rate is unfortunately 1.7. This is suicide. We absolutely have to solve this," he stressed, repeating his message that families should have several children to strengthen the nation.
"I have always said at least three children. Why not four or five? We need to speed this up. With the increasing rate of population growth, our country will progress more strongly in the future.".
The president, who often speaks of the central role of the family in Turkish society, said that Turkey has a strong family structure but needs to prevent demographic decline.
Erdogan, who often calls on newlyweds to have at least three children during wedding ceremonies, has for years promoted population growth as a patriotic duty. However, economic hardship, inflation and a housing crisis are making it increasingly difficult for young couples to get married and start families.
Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute shows that the growing economic strain coincides with a growing number of one-child households, a decline in marriages and an increase in divorces.
During the International Family Forum in Istanbul in May, Erdogan declared the period between 2026 and 2035 the "decade of the family and population", after declaring 2025 the "Year of the Family".
Official data shows that Turkey's birth rate has fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.48 in 2024 - lower than in France, Britain or the United States. Erdogan, a 71-year-old Islamist and father of four, has condemned it as a "catastrophe." In his 22 years in office - first as prime minister and then as president - the birth rate has plummeted in the country of 85 million. While Erdogan has touted population growth as essential to Turkey's strength and moral renewal, critics say his government's failure to address the economic factors behind the declining birth rate - from the high cost of living to childcare and barriers to women's employment - makes his calls increasingly unrealistic. Turkey has struggled in recent years with deepening economic instability, driven by double-digit inflation since 2019, a sharp rise in the cost of living and a weakening currency. Inflation was around 33% in October, and the Turkish lira has lost more than 75% of its value against the US dollar since 2021.