'Have at least three children,' PM Erdoğan tells Finnish counterpart
Hurriyet.com.tr
DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin Sönmez
Couples in Finland should have at least three children, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan advised his Finnish counterpart during a press meeting today.Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen was explaining the economic developments in his country when he said the average number of children per family was 1.8 in Finland.
Erdoğan interrupted Katainen and suggested that the country’s couples have at least three children. Erdoğan is known to repeat this piece of advice whenever he attends a wedding or meets newly wed couples in Turkey.
EU relations to be frozen
Erdoğan also reiterated Turkey’s intention to break off its relations with the European Union for six months when Greek Cyprus takes over the union's term presidency on July 1.
"We will take a break in our relations with EU as we do not recognize the state of Greek Cyprus. We cannot negotiate with a government that we do not recognize. It is impossible," Erdoğan said.
