Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş attended the 'Meeting Program with Couples Benefiting from the Support of Young People Getting Married Project' held at the Judge House in Ankara's Gölbaşı district. Minister Göktaş met with young couples and explained their work. Stating that they carry out many family-oriented studies throughout Türkiye, Göktaş said, "Ensuring that our young people establish a home on the way to marriage and supporting them is very valuable and valuable for us. Our esteemed President had a word for our youth. He said, "He wanted us to carry out studies to enable our young people to establish a home and realize their dreams from Turkey's underground riches and mineral riches."
Minister Göktaş said that the Family and Youth Fund was created in 2024 and that the application was first started as a pilot project in 5 provinces in the earthquake zone. After starting it in 5 provinces of the earthquake zone, we continued it in 3 more provinces with the lowest fertility rate. With the 2025 Family Year, we expanded this project to all over Turkey. We are very happy to currently marry 222 thousand young people across Turkey with the support of the Family and Youth Fund. "You are considered our children, and they are our grandchildren," he said.
Stating that they organized a 2-day training program for the couples who will get married before the marriage, Minister Göktaş stated that they did not leave the couples alone after the marriage and said, "Because we know that establishing a home is very valuable, very valuable, but keeping this home intact; We know that divorce rates have increased significantly, especially in the first 5 years. Therefore, in the first 5 years, we want to always be with you, guide you, and support you in establishing a solid home with these training programs, but at the same time, we want to continue to be with you.
'WE GIVE A GRANT TO THOSE WHO HAVE 2 CHILDREN'
Providing information about birth support, Minister Göktaş said: We provide 5 thousand liras for our first child, 1,500 liras per month for our second child, and a regular 5 thousand liras every month for our third and subsequent children until the children turn 5 years old. Here, our young people who benefit from the Family and Youth Fund are offered a 48-month loan with a 2-year grace period and 0 percent interest. We postpone the loan for 12 months for couples who have children within 2 years or within this period. For those who have 2 children; Because we have twins throughout Türkiye, we are granting this loan completely. "We have babies here, the gift of those babies was to grant the loan to their families for 12 months," he said.
Regarding the couples who got married within the scope of the Family and Youth Fund and have children, Minister Göktaş said: "Therefore, I would like to thank each and every one of you who have already become parents, I really congratulate you." I really want to congratulate each of the couples who got married and applied for this beautiful project. We have already married 222 thousand young people across Türkiye and had 22 thousand babies. We count babies every day, thanks to you. "We truly express our gratitude to all of you in this context," he said.
'58 PERCENT OF OUR HOUSEHOLDS HAVE NO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18'
Touching on the importance of families spending time together, Minister Göktaş stated that digitalization has become central to daily life. Göktaş advised young couples to get together at the table and spend time with their elders and continued as follows:
I think the strongest aspect of our civilization is our tables, the strongest aspect of our civilization is our families. We will continue to progress towards our 10th Year of Family and Population with our always strong families in the coming years. Our population is aging rapidly. I regret to say that 58 percent of our households do not have children under the age of 18. This means that we are aging faster and our number of children is quite low. In other words, we have taken important steps in many areas in the defense industry, industry and infrastructure in our country. But the silence of the houses should worry us too.
'WE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD OUR SOLID FAMILIES IN SOLID HOMES'
Minister Göktaş also touched upon other supports provided to young people benefiting from the Family and Youth Fund and said the following:
What did we say? We said, 'Those who have a child within 2 years are deferred for 12 months' loan.' At the same time, we gave priority to our friends in this group at İŞKUR. Another of our newest studies is that one of the priorities in social housing is you, our youth. We promised that our young people who benefit from marriage loans would be given priority in our social housing projects implemented by our Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. These applications have started in Istanbul. Hopefully, we will continue to build strong families in solid homes in the future.
Minister Göktaş stated that, as the Ministry of Family and Social Services, they will continue to support young couples and said, "As the Ministry of Family and Social Services, we are always with you when you need them." He said, "We will knock on your door from time to time with our consultancy services and social events and maybe have a cup of tea with you."
