The number of couples who got married last 10 years in Turkiye declined, while the number of divorced couples has increased by 30 percent.

Decreasing marriages and increasing divorces weaken the family institution every day.

The most important place where people are happy, peaceful and safe is family, experts say and indicating that the family should be protected.

Speaking to ILKHA about family institutions, Gaziantep provincial preacher, family, and religious guidance coordinator Sema Bozgeyik stressed that a happy family is essential for a peaceful society and therefore the family should be protected.

Noting that the family institution is becoming weaker in recent years, Bozgeyik emphasized that marriage is the most fundamental element of the society and that it must be protected, and that social peace depends on the peace in the family.

"Islam attaches great importance to the family institution," said Bozgeyik while reminding that there many orders and recommendations for the family to be healthy and to be established on sound foundations.

Drawing attention to the increase in divorce rate, Bozgeyik said: "As family and religious guidance coordinator, when we look at to the questions people ask through phone call or face to face interview; we see that there are many marriages destroyed and disrupted due to the lack of control of anger and the fact that the spouses do not fulfill their responsibilities towards each other or cheating on each other."

According to Turkish statistics, around 6 million people have been married in the last decade and one million have been divorced again. "Unfortunately, this is a huge number," she added.

"We are trying to guide the solution of problems"

Bozgeyik explained that they are worried about the decrease in the marriage and the increase in divorce, and conducting studies in order to guide the solution of family problems.

"We carry studies especially in the context of pre-marriage education and family education programs. We try to remind people of their rights and responsibilities, guide them to deal with each other in the face of their problems and to resolve their problems," she said.

"Marriage protection is important to us"

"We advise them in this regard to protecting the family, which is a priority for us," Bozgeyik said. Adding that they can help to a certain point, Bozgeyik noted: "From that point, we lead them to family counseling or psychologists."

"At least we are guiding them in this matter so that they can better communicate with each other. Because marriage protection is important to us," she stressed.

"TV serials affect marriages negatively"

Bozgeyik stated that there are many reasons for the problems between the spouses and the increasing divorce.

"When we look at the questions and problems that come to us, there are conflicts in the family. We see many times that family elders interfering with marriage. In addition, we see many economic problems. The problem in youth couples can be said that they emulate on TV series they watch, get in exceeding expectations and while their family life is not in that direction, then crackling occur in the family."

"There are rules that spouses must follow"

Bozgeyik also gave some advice to spouses about marriage. "People need to have anger control, respect each other's thoughts, and empathize with each other as well as to ensure that they communicate very well."

"If there is a problem, then people with the ability to solve it, at least without breaking or hurting each other in the face of the problems they are experiencing, can go on to make up for the problem. That's why we care about marriage schools. At the same time, we organize domestic communication courses in many social facilities, Qur'an courses, and mosques, which we call family education, this is important."

Underscoring that individuals need to be able to control their own anger and develop their own personality, and to be able to establish their communication skills, Bozgeyik said their effort in this direction continue for families.

Stating that family is the smallest and most important foundation stone of society, Bozgeyik underlined that, "If the family is healthy and well-maintained in a society, the people in that society will surely live a comfortable and peaceful life." 

ILKHA