Türkiye’s 2025 centered on family-focused policies, public priorities and a steady push toward recovery. From social initiatives introduced early in the year to the way institutions and communities responded to key events, the period reflects continuity, adaptation and national focus.

The government placed family policy at the center of its domestic agenda in 2025 by declaring the year the "Year of the Family,” citing declining birth rates, delayed marriage and population aging as long-term challenges. Speaking at the launch in January, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the issue required sustained policy coordination rather than short-term measures, with strategy development overseen by a newly established Family Institute.

As part of the initiative, family support mechanisms were expanded nationwide. An interest-free marriage loan of TL150,000 ($3,492) was extended beyond earthquake-affected regions, offering newly married couples a two-year grace period and four-year repayment plan. Birth assistance programs were also revised, introducing monthly child support alongside increased one-time payments.

Under the system, mothers receive TL 5,000 for a first child, TL 1,500 per month for a second child, and TL 5,000 per month for third and subsequent children until age five. Officials linked the measures to data showing Türkiye’s fertility rate fell to 1.48 in 2024, below replacement level.

Beyond financial support, the Family Action Plan for 2024–2028 focused on strengthening family services, work-life balance and preventive support. By November, 1,201 children under state protection had been placed with foster or adoptive families, while more than 709,000 mothers had received benefits under the expanded birth assistance system by year’s end.

The policy push coincided with changes in demographic reporting. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) began publishing more frequent population data in 2025, showing births declined 8.3% year-over-year in the first seven months to 503,765, while deaths increased 0.7% to 294,824.

Despite these trends, quarterly data showed Türkiye’s population rose to 85,980,654 as of Oct. 1, up 315,710 from the end of 2024. Officials said the shift was intended to provide policymakers with timely data as the elderly population reached 10.6% and long-term demographic pressures intensified.

Kartalkaya hotel fire

One of the deadliest fire disasters in Türkiye’s recent history unfolded in the early hours of Jan. 21, 2025, when a blaze tore through the Grand Kartal Hotel at the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu, killing 78 people and injuring more than 130.

The fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. on the fourth floor of the 12-story hotel, rapidly spreading through the upper levels as hundreds of guests were asleep. It was the peak of the winter school holidays, and the hotel was filled largely with families visiting the Köroğlu Mountains for a ski vacation. Thick smoke quickly filled corridors, trapping guests. Some attempted to escape by tying bedsheets together and climbing from windows, while others were overcome by smoke.

Firefighters battled the flames for nearly 10 hours, facing severe challenges due to the hotel’s remote, cliffside location. Investigations revealed serious safety failures. Prosecutors found that fire alarms did not sound, sprinklers and smoke exhaust systems were absent, and emergency exits were poorly marked. An electrical short in a ground-floor grill, combined with an old LPG line, was identified as the likely cause. Within minutes, the fire spread through elevator shafts, turning stairwells into smoke-filled traps.

Public outrage followed. A nationwide inspection of ski resorts was launched, and a major trial began in Bolu. On Oct. 31, 2025, a court handed down multiple life sentences to 11 people, including the hotel’s owners and local officials, ruling their negligence amounted to "probable intent to kill.” The verdict marked a turning point in demands for accountability and stricter safety enforcement in Türkiye’s tourism sector.

Wildfire climate pressure

In the summer of 2025, Türkiye faced an unusually severe wildfire season exacerbated by exceptional heat and prolonged drought, pushing firefighting capacities to their limits and forcing large-scale evacuations across multiple regions.

The summer of June-August 2025 ranked among the hottest on record globally, with climate analysts describing it as the third warmest summer ever documented. Temperatures in parts of Türkiye surpassed 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), a first in the nation’s meteorological history, far exceeding typical seasonal norms and dramatically increasing wildfire risk.

From late June through October 2025, Türkiye grappled with thousands of fire outbreaks. According to forestry statistics, approximately 6,800 separate fire incidents were recorded across the country, including both forest and rural fires.

Of these, around 2,800 were primary forest fires, while nearly 4,000 began in rural areas and subsequently spread into woodlands, underscoring the interconnected nature of the crisis. In total, these blazes scorched about 80,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land, marking the second-largest area burned in the past decade.

The threat levels prompted widespread evacuations. In several districts of Izmir province, western Türkiye, wildfires forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes as flames approached residential areas. More than 50,000 residents were evacuated nationwide during peak periods, especially in coastal and forest-adjacent communities.

Earthquake recovery phase

The year marked a decisive phase in Türkiye’s post-earthquake recovery. Nearly two years after the February 2023 earthquakes devastated southeastern Türkiye, large-scale reconstruction efforts began to visibly reshape the region under the government’s program.

By late 2025, around 350,000 new homes had been delivered across 11 earthquake-affected provinces, allowing families in cities such as Malatya, Adıyaman, Hatay and Kahramanmaraş to move from temporary shelters into permanent, earthquake-resistant housing. Officials said the effort, led by the state housing agency TOKI, reached peak construction rates of about 550 homes per day, enabling the near-complete removal of tent and container settlements within two years.

Authorities projected that by year’s end, more than 453,000 housing units, workplaces and village homes would be completed, exceeding initial targets. In Hatay, all 153,000 planned homes were scheduled for delivery by the final week of December. Reconstruction plans also reshaped urban layouts, replacing damaged high-rise districts with lower-rise, safer neighborhoods featuring wider streets, green spaces and public facilities.

Recovery extended to rural areas as well, with thousands of village houses built to support agricultural livelihoods. In Hatay’s Kumlu district, Türkiye’s first "rural satellite city” was completed, providing 777 village homes designed to stabilize populations and support local economies affected by the disaster.

Earthquake exposure levels

This year, Türkiye recorded more than 53,000 earthquakes, making it the second most seismically active year since 2023 and underlining the country’s elevated seismic risk. On average, the country experienced 6 earthquakes per hour and 146 per day, with 437 tremors reaching magnitude 4.0 or higher, reflecting sustained nationwide activity.

Seismic intensity was highest in Balıkesir, northwestern Türkiye, particularly in the Sındırgı district, where thousands of earthquakes were recorded over a short period following twin magnitude 6.1 earthquakes on Aug. 10 and Oct. 27. The year’s strongest event, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake, struck off the coast of Istanbul on April 23, once again underscoring the metropolis’s vulnerability.

National forestation drive

Türkiye marked National Forestation Day on Nov. 11 with record participation as 1,280,491 people took part in coordinated tree-planting activities across 1,391 locations in all 81 provinces, planting 14,914,000 saplings, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı. The campaign, launched in 2019 under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s "Green Homeland” initiative, set new records for both turnout and the number of trees planted in a single day.

Speaking at the main ceremony in Ankara, President Erdoğan said Türkiye has planted 7.5 billion saplings and seeds since 2000, expanding forest coverage to 23.4 million hectares, or roughly 30% of the country’s land area.

He linked the effort to Türkiye’s 2053 net-zero emissions target and cited United Nations data showing the country rose from sixth to fourth globally in forest area expansion between 2020 and 2025 and now ranks third worldwide in annual tree planting. Erdoğan also commemorated 160 forestry workers who have died battling wildfires, including 17 during the past summer.

In western Türkiye, provinces focused on restoring fire-damaged areas. Izmir planted 15,000 saplings at a burned site, with 115,000 more planned across 21 locations. Aydın planted 7,000 saplings to establish a commemorative forest.

Manisa planted 35,000 saplings across 16 districts, while Denizli planted 15,100 saplings at 17 sites. Authorities said the national planting target for the coming year has been raised from 550 million to 600 million saplings and seeds, signaling continued emphasis on large-scale forestation.