As population ages, Turkey seeks to reap benefits

Turkey's Ministry of Family and Social Policies introduced a Senior Citizen Support program on Tuesday, a package of incentives for improving care of elderly citizens in Turkey, where concerns are high over an aging population, which the government hopes to address with incentives that will offer new activities for senior citizens.

The program "seeks to benefit from the experience of senior citizens," said Minister Sema Ramazanoğlu, speaking at an Ankara event to introduce the program, noting that it would support projects helping the senior citizens to take a more active role in daily life.

Projects specially designed for the elderly will be granted as much a TL 1.1 million ($383,743) per project if ministry approves, and they will be limited to projects prepared by local municipalities, as the government seeks to decentralize services caring for seniors.