Permanent alimony not fair: Justice minister

ANKARA

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said that he finds permanent alimony “not fair,” while answering a question about the duration limit of paying alimony decided for divorce cases.

“Couple marries for a month. The alimony is paid lifelong. I find this wrong. Permanent alimony is not fair,” Bpzdağ said in a TV interview on late April 12.

According to the ministry, “the issue of alimony was not a big deal” until today, as the divorce rate was low in the past.

“Now, nearly in every family, there is a divorce,” he said.

The number of both divorces and marriages in the country increased in 2021, the country’s statistical institute (TÜİK) announced in February.

“The number of divorce cases jumped from 137,000 in 2020 to 174,000 in 2021,” it said. “The rate of married couples increased by 15.02 percent and reached 561,710 in 2021.”

Without giving a timeline, the justice minister underlined that the number of alimony decisions made on consensual divorces is around 30,000.

“There are around 180,000 contested divorce cases in total ongoing. Alimony decisions are being given in around 55,000 of them,” Bozdağ noted.

Highlighting there is a demand to limit the duration of alimony payment, he stressed, “We need to figure out the intensity of the demand. We need some time for a solution.”

The time limit of alimony was subject to a court’s decision until 1988 in Turkey.

Following a change in law, permanent alimony has been in practice since then.