DISCOURSES OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE AND POPULATION POLICIES IN TURKEY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Abstract

In the early years of the Republic the Turkish government followed Western family values and norms, and attempted to implement population policies and programmes as part of its agenda, as they were believed to represent development and progress. The overall character of these policies was weighted towards “development”. Imposing demographic change, first through pronatalist and then through antinatalist population policies, the Republic aimed to bring the country to the forefront of developed countries. In this study I analyse the modernisation campaigns that challenged old demographic practices, the historical evolution of such policies and their impact since the beginning of the Republic.