Our Minister of Family and Social Services, Derya Yanık, stated that they will conduct a Türkiye Ageing Survey this year and said, "We expect to find answers to all questions that may arise in this field, such as the rate of ageing in Türkiye, the number, results related to old age, and the needs of older persons, following the old age survey."

Minister Derya Yanık, speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) in Adana, where she came to attend various programs, said that the population is ageing rapidly in Türkiye as well as in the world.

Indicating that approximately one out of every 10 people in Türkiye is over the age of 65, Yanık said, "In Türkiye, nearly one-third of our population, 27 percent of whom are under the age of 18, but on the other hand, we are ageing very quickly because the fertility rate is falling rapidly. We plan and implement our care, rehabilitation and day care services separately for our young citizens, persons with disabilities and older persons, according to their needs. In the next process, I hope we will implement our services that we have planned according to the needs of every citizen group.”

Emphasizing that one out of every 4 people in Türkiye is expected to be 65 years or older in 60 years, Minister Yanık stated that this data shows that the number of people in need of service will gradually increase.

Explaining that they serve more than 8 million older persons, Minister Yanık said:

“On the one hand, we are working hard as the Ministry, on the other hand, there is an old age commission established in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). In 2021, we conducted Türkiye Family Structure Survey, Türkiye Adolescent Profile Survey, University Youth Profile Survey, Causes of Violence Against Women Survey, and it is currently in the analysis phase. We are trying to evaluate the results.”

"We believe that the Türkiye Ageing Survey will be an important data source"

The Minister of Family and Social Services, Yanık, emphasized that they approach all issues of older persons, such as health, education, care, and the mechanisms of active participation in social life, with a human-oriented approach and said:

“Hopefully, we will conduct a Türkiye Ageing Survey this year. Therefore, when we look at it as a whole, we will have made a holistic evaluation and field survey on the issue of the entire population, demographics, young people, older persons, children, family and women in our country. It will be a series of scientific research. Following the ageing research, we expect to find answers to all questions that may arise in this field, such as the rate of ageing in Türkiye, its number, results related to ageing, and the needs of older persons.

After that, it is our responsibility to transform it into social policy and then into a form of social work. In this sense, we believe that the Türkiye Ageing Survey will be an important data source.”