Marriage courses on the way, Turkish minister says

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Minister Şahin says they would like to strengthen the marriage institution. AA photo

Premarital courses are planned to strengthen the institution of marriage because the divorce rate is rapidly increasing in Turkey, Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin said yesterday.

Şahin attended a symposium in Istanbul called “Our Family in the Changing World” where she cited a recent survey that showed that 10 percent of divorced couples remarry.

“This shows that they divorce without thinking their marriage over. Our role is to strengthen that mechanism to avoid divorces,” she said. 

Şahin said a pilot project will begin in Ankara in two weeks. The course will be a base for couples to learn each others’ expectations for their marriage and to manage it. 

Şahin also said her Justice and Development Party (AKP) was a conservative democratic party, and they should integrate democracy with conservatism. 

“Our biggest mission is to manage globalism for our own sake. If a woman becomes stronger this strengthens the family, we must accept that,” she said.

Şahin mentioned the difficulties she experienced while preparing an anti-violence law for women. 
“There were criticisms that we shattered family values when we pursued a policy based on women’s power and when we pursued a policy to strengthen family structure some criticized us for shattering the status of women. ... We must integrate both,” Şahin said. 

Şahin also said that according to surveys 80 percent of Turkish society was annoyed by Turkish television programs for damaging family values, but only 2.5 percent had made a complaint to the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK).

 Şahin said people must take action if they are annoyed and stop watching those shows to decrease their ratings