OTS Family and Women's Council holds first High Honorary Board meeting in Ankara, hosted by Emine Erdoğan

Emine Erdoğan, wife of the Turkish president, hosted the first High Honorary Board meeting of the Organization of Turkic States Family and Women's Council at Çankaya Mansion in Ankara on 30 October. The event, titled “From Solidarity to Institutional Cooperation: Family and Women in the Turkic World”, took place ahead of the 13th summit. Spouses of the visiting leaders and Türkiye's Minister of Family and Social Services, Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, attended.

In her speech Emine Erdoğan tied the council to the OTS 2040 Vision. She said a strong woman cannot be reduced to a single lifestyle and that motherhood and a career do not exclude each other. From history she cited Ibn Battuta's remarks on the status of Turkic women, the institutions founded by Gevher Shad, the leadership of Kurmanjan Datka, the finding that women founded 36 percent of Istanbul's foundations in 1546 records, and the Bacıyan-ı Rum organization of 13th-century Anatolia.

She noted that falling birth rates strain families and that Türkiye declared 2025 the “Year of the Family” and 2026-2035 the “Family and Population Decade”. The council is meant to become a permanent cooperation platform, with its first formal meeting planned for the 14th summit in Uzbekistan next year.

Ministers held the council's founding session. The leaders' spouses toured the “Olgunlaşma Institutes” exhibition of 34 textile and costume works, watched a fashion show and had lunch of Turkish cuisine, with a performance by tenor Murat Karahan.