President Erdoğan: We are taking firm steps towards the goal of a terror-free Türkiye

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the 'Strong Family with Mothers, Strong Turkey with Family' program organized by the Women's Branch of the AK Party Headquarters at a hotel in Bakırköy. In his speech here, President Erdoğan drew attention to the suffering of mothers in war zones, especially in Palestine, and then provided information on social aid provided in Türkiye to strengthen the family institution, support provided to women and mothers, and marriage and birth incentives. Emphasizing determination in the fight against violence against women, President Erdoğan also touched on the importance of mothers' prayers in the fight against terrorism and called for unity and solidarity.

President Erdoğan said, “Unfortunately, this year, we are celebrating Mother’s Day with a heavy heart, under the shadow of all the pain experienced. We are going through a difficult period where mothers, fathers, and children in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and many other places are struggling with war, hunger, disease, and lack of medicine. Wherever we look, children are dying, wherever we turn our faces, women are dying. Innocents in Gaza waiting in line for food, and the oppressed trying to hold on to life amidst the ruins are being brutally massacred. As Turkey, we continue to make every effort to end all this pain, hardship, and distress experienced both in our heartland and in different parts of the world. I pray to God to grant us the opportunity to see days when peace, tranquility, and well-being reign on earth; when Mother’s Day is celebrated with beauty.”

'THE LOVE WE HAVE FOR MOTHERS IS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE'

Erdoğan said, “Mothers have always had a sacred place in our faith, tradition and history. Similarly, a sacred struggle and good news; Heaven is under the feet of mothers. Look, it does not say, ‘It is under the feet of fathers’; it is under the feet of mothers. I would kiss the sole of my mother’s foot and she would pull her foot back. I would say, ‘Mom, why are you pulling? There is a heavenly scent here, I want to smell it, I want to smell it’. This time my mother would laugh. We come from such a civilization, such a culture. Love is there, compassion is there, mercy is there. The equivalent of all these concepts in our minds has been mothers. The love we feel for mothers who take on all kinds of difficulties, hardships and sacrifices for their children; who work tooth and nail and devote themselves to their homes and children throughout their lives; who never show their troubles and sorrows; who soothe their children so that they do not get upset even when they are on their deathbed, who are the first port of refuge, the first door to knock on, the first destination to reach, is beyond everything else. "It is on it," he said.

'I CALL OUT TO THOSE WHO REBEL AGAINST THEIR PARENTS'

Continuing his speech with a poem by Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan, President Erdoğan said, “Yes, how can I not remember my mother? How many nights would she sing me lullabies, When I was sick, she was the one waiting by my bedside. So that I would not get tired or sad, right away. She would take me in her arms, caress me, kiss my hair. How can I not remember my mother, how can I? I know that I will be in your heart again, mother. Greetings from Istanbul on Women's Day. As if I had just returned from school one evening. I kiss your loyal hands, mother. Yes, 12:00 at night, 01:00 at night. My mother would wait for me from the balcony of the house. Is it possible to forget those days? This is one of the most beautiful expressions of the longing, love and loyalty to mothers that never ceases throughout a lifetime, in the verses of a late poet. Respecting mothers and fathers is the way to gain the consent of our Lord for us; it is a door that opens to heaven. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informs us in a hadith that mothers are one step away from heaven with the following words; Mother and father are one of the main doors that will be a means for a person to enter heaven. Whether you lose or take advantage of the opportunity to enter through this door is now up to you. Our Lord in our life guide, the Quran, has definitely ordered you to never worship anyone but Him and to treat your parents well. The Isra Surah was read a moment ago; this news is given there, if one of them is this, this is very important. I am addressing those who rebel against their mother and father. Or if both of them reach old age with you, do not even say 'uff' to them; do not scold them, speak sweet and beautiful words to them, the verse basically summarizes everything. This is how important and valuable mother and father are to us, they are worthy of respect to the extent that they are not even 'uff'. "May God grant us, all of us, the opportunity to be worthy children of them and to receive their blessings," he said.

'WE ALLOCATED FULLY 61 PERCENT OF OUR SOCIAL ASSISTANCE IN 2024 TO OUR WOMEN'

President Erdoğan touched upon the efforts made to strengthen the family institution in the 23-year period and said, “Just as the foundation of society is the family; the foundation of the family is also the mother and the woman. In a society where mothers are not strong, no matter what you do, you cannot achieve prosperity, peace or success. We have never ignored this truth in our 23-year rule. We have always determined our efforts to strengthen the family institution in this direction, especially our activities for mothers and children. We have provided very strong support to families, especially mothers, with our Ministry of Family, Ministry of Labor and all other relevant institutions. We have always been by the side of our mothers in terms of improving working conditions, social assistance, new employment programs and child, elderly and disabled care services. We have allocated a full 61 percent of our social assistance in 2024 to our women. Last year alone, we paid 773 million liras to 77 thousand sisters whose spouses passed away. We provided a total of 2.15 billion liras of support to 2 million 700 thousand mothers within the scope of education, health and pregnancy assistance. We provided 126 million liras of aid to the families of our soldiers who are performing their national duties. We provided various levels of training and incentives to our women through our family support centers and social solidarity centers. We continue our programs for our women in our 34 multi-purpose community centers in 9 provinces. We continue to act with determination in line with our principle of 'zero tolerance' in the fight against violence against women. We are doing and will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the perpetrators of the brutal attacks that have recently torn our hearts receive the harshest punishment they deserve. The uncompromising implementation of Law No. 6284, which is the strongest shield against violence against women, continues to be our priority. We provide psychological, social and economic support to our sisters and brothers we host in our Violence Prevention and Monitoring Centers and women's shelters," he said.

'OVER 123 THOUSAND OF OUR CITIZENS BENEFIT FROM HOME CARE SERVICES'

The President also mentioned the works for the elderly and said, “We have increased our home care services so that our elderly, to whom we owe a lot, can live a peaceful life with their families and relatives. As of March 2025, over 123 thousand of our citizens benefit from home care services. With the Elderly Support Program (YADES), we support 153 thousand 098 elderly citizens from over 101 thousand households. We provide inpatient care services to a total of 31 thousand 359 citizens, 14 thousand 834 of whom are in 170 nursing homes affiliated with our Ministry of Family. The number of our disabled citizens benefiting from home care services has exceeded 544 thousand. We have provided 190 billion liras of aid to these brothers and sisters. We are taking all the necessary steps and providing all the support so that our disabled brothers and sisters can directly contribute to business life. As of today, the number of our disabled citizens working in the public sector has reached 73 thousand 800. We will continue to strengthen the entire family institution; our mothers, children, elderly and disabled people, God willing.”

'WE ARE OFFERING 150 THOUSAND TL INTEREST-FREE LOAN OPPORTUNITY WITH THE PROJECT OF SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WILL GET MARRIED'

President Erdoğan, who also mentioned their support for young people who are getting married and families who want to have children, said, “In 2025, which we declared as the ‘Year of Family’, we have also accelerated our birth and marriage aids. We are providing a one-time 5 thousand lira birth aid for the first child, 1,500 lira monthly for the second child until they turn 5, and 5 thousand lira monthly for the third and subsequent children until they turn 5. Thank God, we are keeping our promises made in the elections. During the elections of May 14-28, we had said, ‘We will help our young people get married.’ We had announced that we would establish a Family and Youth Fund in this regard. We first implemented our fund as a pilot region in the earthquake region, and then promoted it throughout Turkey. We support couples who will set up a family in all 81 provinces. With the project to support young people who are getting married, we are offering a 150 thousand lira interest-free loan opportunity with a two-year grace period, 48-month maturity. We are also paying off the debts of couples who have children within the 48-month maturity period up to 12 months. "We are postponing. While 7,652 couples have benefited from interest-free credit support to date, the number of couples who are entitled to receive credit has exceeded 29,000. Our families are also benefiting from many discounts of up to 40 percent on their intercity travels within the scope of the 'Family Year'," he said.

'ALCOHOL ADDICTION IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE'

The President said, “We are taking many steps to encourage young people to start a family and get married. We are in an intense struggle against all kinds of wrong practices that are deliberately fueled by the consumer culture and that make marriage difficult. We are taking the necessary measures to prevent the perverted movements called LGBT from corrupting our society. One of the aims of our uncompromising stance against diseases such as alcohol, gambling, virtual betting and drugs is to protect the family, especially women and children. Although certain circles do not want to accept it, alcohol addiction is one of the biggest causes of domestic violence. Alcohol is again at the root of many problems such as violence, crime, suicide, social problems, traffic accidents and workplace problems. Homes are destroyed and families are torn apart due to alcohol addiction. Unfortunately, many children are forced to grow up as orphans. Therefore, whatever we do, we do it to support our families. We do it to reach safer tomorrows together with our families, our youth, our children and our elders.”

President Erdoğan, who also touched upon the efforts for a Terror-Free Turkey, said the following in his closing remarks: “As the People’s Alliance, we never evaluate our ‘Terror-Free Turkey’ efforts, which we carry out with great sensitivity, separately from these goals. We are determined to save our country from the scourge of terror, which has caused deep pain to our citizens from all walks of life for 40 years, has brought a burning fire to the hearts of mothers, and has thrown dynamite into our eternal and everlasting brotherhood as a nation. We are advancing with firm steps on the path to the goal of a Terror-Free Turkey. Our intelligence and other security units meticulously fulfill their duties. With the awareness that we bear the responsibility of every individual of 86 million, we follow the efforts moment by moment without leaving even the slightest gap in a manner befitting the seriousness of the state. I believe that we will reach the range of a ‘Terror-Free Turkey’ with the help of Allah, the support of our dear nation, and especially the sincere prayers of all mothers. We will not give an opportunity to those who wait for our country to stumble. Those who try to drown our region in blood, chaos, tears, and instability We will not fall for their games. We will respond to those who want to divide by embracing each other more tightly. We will respond to those who try to separate by closing our ranks. In other words, 86 million will give heart to heart; we will strengthen and elevate love, togetherness, solidarity and brotherhood even more, God willing. We will build the 'Turkish Century', which is based on democracy, development, peace and justice, all together. You can and will receive good news at any time. I say, the effort is from us, success is from Allah."

DHA

Editor: News Center