In his speech here, Minister Göktaş said that they were together to evaluate and mature an idea that has been dreamed of for a while, and that the opinions at the meeting will form the first building blocks of the Family and Women's Council. Noting that the protection of the High Honor Council, which convened for the first time on the occasion of the summit, will be the greatest support of the Council, Göktaş expressed his gratitude to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife, Emine Erdoğan, and the other spouses of leaders in the Board.
Minister Göktaş stated that their duty is to transform this protection into concrete steps that find a response in the lives of families and women.
Emphasizing that they see the Family and Women's Council as a permanent basis for cooperation based on regular consultation and experience sharing between countries, Göktaş said, "Our Council will bring together our work that strengthens families and supports the participation of women in social and economic life around our common values and priorities." Minister Göktaş stated that they came together in Istanbul in 2024 with the theme of family to improve cooperation in the field of social policy, in Baku in 2025, they evaluated their experiences and joint working opportunities with the theme of women, and today in Ankara, they took a new step to combine these two topics under the Family and Women's Council.
Göktaş stated that, as Turkey, they consider the empowerment of women and family as complementary goals and said, "A woman who receives support from her family takes her place more easily in education, working life and society. A woman who is involved in all areas of life carries this gain first to her family and then to the whole society. In fact, this understanding is not foreign to our civilization. In the Orhun Inscriptions, when the resurrection of the state is described, the name of İlbilge Hatun is mentioned alongside İltiriş Kağan. In other words, in our history, women are the founders of the state." "It was in his will from the very beginning," he said.
Stating that they brought together the inspiration they received from their roots with common goals for the future with the Council they came together to establish today, Göktaş said that the Turkish World 2040 Vision is a strong basis that makes this possible, and they hope that the Family and Women's Council will rise on this basis.
Minister Göktaş stated that they need the Council today more than ever because families live in a rapidly changing world. Underlining that digitalization has changed the world of children from within the home, Göktaş said:
"Demographic transformation is reshaping the age of starting a family and household structure. Irregular migration, disasters and climate change leave the heaviest burden on families. None of these problems know borders. The policies that each of us develop in our own country are of course very valuable. But challenges that know no borders require a common answer that brings together our experiences. Our Family and Women's Council will be that common ground."
Reminding that Türkiye determined the year 2025 as the "Year of the Family" and the period 2026-2035 as the "Decade of Family and Population", with the permission of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Göktaş stated that they sat at this table with the awareness that the demographic issue is not the common agenda of a single country, but the Turkish world. Göktaş said, "In this sense, we see the policies that protect and support the family and increase women's access to opportunities in all fields as a priority within the Organization of Turkish States, which convened this year with the theme of 'Unity in Language and Ideas'. The Family and Women's Council, which we propose to establish, will enable us to turn these priorities into joint projects and progress faster together."
Stating that there are targets around which they propose to shape the work of the council, Göktaş said:
"Protecting and strengthening the family structure; addressing the effects of demographic changes on our families together. Establishing social policies that support young people's decisions to start a family and have children. Socioeconomic empowerment of women; combating violence, active participation in leadership and decision-making processes, harmony of working life and family life. Women and families making the most of digital opportunities; at the same time ensuring the safety of children in the digital environment. Protecting women and children from all kinds of violence. Our goal is clear: 'Strong family, strong woman, strong society.' "Such a society is first established within homes."
Göktaş said, "The Family and Women's Council, which will be established under the auspices of First Lady Erdoğan, will make a strong contribution to the future vision of the Organization of Turkic States. We attach great importance to the construction of the council in achieving common goals."
Stating that they are ready to bring the experience they have accumulated over the years in the field of family and social services to this common ground, Göktaş stated that the participating countries have valuable knowledge about family and women, and that as these knowledge come together, the understanding of social policy unique to the Turkish world will become even stronger. Göktaş stated that those who have one root have one path, and he wished that this unity would lead to beneficial results for the families and women of the Turkish world. At the meeting, representatives of the participating countries shared their evaluations on family and women's policies and their views on cooperation.
