As Birthrates Fall, Türkiye’s Government Steps In

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for Turkish women to have more babies. Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for Turkish women to have more babies. Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
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As Birthrates Fall, Türkiye’s Government Steps In

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for Turkish women to have more babies. Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for Turkish women to have more babies. Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

Alarmed by the fact that Turkish women are having fewer children, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved to tackle falling birthrates -- "a threat greater than war" -- through policies designed to bring on the babies.

After declaring 2025 Türkiye’s "Year of the Family", Erdogan last month announced 2026 would mark the start of the "Decade of the Family".

But his pleas for women to have at least three children and offers of financial incentives for newlyweds may not be enough as Türkiye grapples with a deepening economic crisis.

Official figures show Türkiye's birthrate has fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.48 in 2025 -- lower than in France, Britain or the United States -- in what Erdogan, a 71-year-old pious Muslim and father-of-four, has denounced as "a disaster".

During his 22 years in office -- first as premier, then president -- fertility rates have dropped sharply in this country of 85 million people.

Erdogan has blamed both women and LGBTQ "perverts".

"Women and LGBTQ+ individuals are considered the only culprits for the declining population growth rate, with no acknowledgement of political mistakes," said retired academic and feminist activist Berrin Sonmez.

"People might be hesitant to have children in this chaotic and uncertain environment. Additionally, child support is almost non-existent and education has become the most expensive sector," she said.

No education, no jobs

High inflation has raged in Türkiye for the past four years, forcing education costs up by more than 70 percent over the past year, official data shows.

In the first quarter, unemployment stood at 8.2 percent, or 15 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Researchers with the DISK union say the real rate is 28.5 percent, and 37.5 percent among young people.

But the government seems bent on fixing other issues, such as Türkiye's record number of elective Caesarean births -- which stands at 61 percent, rising to 78 percent in some private hospitals.

In April, Türkiye banned C-section births at private healthcare facilities "without a medical justification".

The procedure generally limits the number of pregnancies to two, or a maximum of three.

C-sections: the 'safer option'

Medical professionals say the high number of C-sections is linked to the rampant privatization of the healthcare system since the late 1990s.

C-sections are more time-efficient for medical staff -- 30 minutes, versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery -- and lower the risk of legal action over complications, said Hakan Coker, an Istanbul-based gynaecologist.

"Ultimately, C-sections are perceived as a guarantee of safety" for doctors and women alike, he said.

Dr Harika Bodur, an obstetrician at a major Istanbul hospital, said some women ask for a C-section "at the first appointment for fear of pain".

"If you refuse, they'll go elsewhere," she said.

The fear is rooted in a lack of education and discomfort with sexuality, she said.

The health ministry says it is now "aiming for a target rate of 20 percent (of C-sections) by encouraging normal childbirth through education of future parents".

But the word "normal" has raised hackles -- notably last month when a football team carried a huge banner promoting vaginal births onto the pitch before a top-flight clash, which read: "Natural birth is normal."

Women as 'birthing machines'

"If I don't want to, I won't have any children at all, it's my right," said 23-year-old chemistry student Secil Murtazaoglu.

"Access to abortion is already difficult. Now they want to limit C-sections. It's all about the oppression of women," she said.

In 2012, the Turkish president described abortion as "murder", but stopped short of banning it.

By offering interest-free loans of 150,000 Turkish lira ($3,800) for newlyweds and a monthly allowance of 5,000 lira from the third child onwards, Erdogan was trying "to turn women into birthing machines", Murtazaoglu said.

Feminist activist Sonmez said women were subjected to huge pressures, both within their families and within society, when the much more pressing issue was the need to tackle gender violence.

"We must start by combating violence against women: such policies have been eradicated and protections seriously undermined," she said.



Bull Sharks Linger in Warming Sydney Waters

A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
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Bull Sharks Linger in Warming Sydney Waters

A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)
A man watches large waves on Bondi Beach in Sydney on July 2, 2025, as large swells and high winds hit the east coast of Australia. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

Bull sharks are lingering off Sydney's beaches for longer periods each year as oceans warm, researchers said Friday, predicting they may one day stay all year.

The predators are migratory, swimming north in winter when Sydney's long-term ocean temperatures dip below 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) to bask in the balmier waters off Queensland.

A team of scientists looked at 15 years of acoustic tracking of 92 tagged migratory sharks in an area including Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbour.

Records show the sharks now spend an average of 15 days longer off Sydney's coast in summer than they did in 2009, said James Cook University researcher Nicolas Lubitz.

"If they're staying longer, it means that people and prey animals have a longer window of overlap with them."

Shark attacks are rare in ocean-loving Australia, and most serious bites are from three species: bull sharks, great whites, and tiger sharks, according to a national database.

There have been more than 1,200 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which over 250 resulted in death.

Researchers found an average warming of 0.57C in Bondi for the October-May period between 2006 and 2024, said the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of The Total Environment.

Over a longer period, remotely sensed summer sea-surface temperatures in the area rose an average 0.67C between 1982 and 2024, they said.

"If this trend persists, which it likely will, it just means that these animals are going to spend more and more time towards their seasonal distributional limit, which currently is southern and central New South Wales," Lubitz said.

"So it could be that a few decades from now, maybe bull sharks are present year-round in waters off Sydney," he added.

"While the chances of a shark bite, and shark bites in Australia in general, remain low, it just means that people have to be more aware of an increased window of bull shark presence in coastal waters off Sydney."

Climate change could also change breeding patterns, Lubitz said, with early evidence indicating juvenile sharks were appearing in rivers further south.

There was some evidence as well that summer habitats for great whites, which prefer colder waters, were decreasing in northern New South Wales and Queensland, he said.

Tagged sharks trigger an alarm when they swim within range of a network of receivers dotted around parts of the Australian coast, giving people real-time warnings on a mobile app of their presence at key locations.