With 2025 being declared the 'Year of the Family' in Turkey, the importance of the family institution is once again on the agenda. The 10-point 'Family Manifesto,' published five years ago by the Üsküdar Üniversitesi and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi Family Working Group, is drawing attention again in this special year. The Manifesto contains important messages for both individuals and society regarding the protection of the family structure.
The year 2025 has been declared the 'Year of the Family' in Turkey to raise awareness across all segments of society. The 10-point 'Family Manifesto,' published five years ago by the Üsküdar Üniversitesi and NPİSTANBUL Hastanesi Family Working Group, is drawing attention again in this special year.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi's 'Family Manifesto' highlights how critical the family institution is not only for individuals but for the future of society as a whole.
The 'Year of the Family' offers an important opportunity for individuals and societal actors to become more aware of this issue.
Continuity of the family institution is in danger!
The first article of the manifesto, which contains important messages for both individuals and society regarding the protection of the family structure, points to the danger of 'the continuity of the family institution being at risk,' stating, 'We are faced with the fact that the continuity of the family institution globally fails at a rate below 50 percent. We believe this is a danger. Against movements that argue the family is a "traditional imposition" and that the individual is sacred, we must declare our evidence-based statement.'
Family responds to humanity's basic needs!
The Manifesto asserts that
'the family institution is a development foreseen by evolutionary psychology and a crucial discovery in the socialization process of humankind, that pairing is biological and primitive, while marriage is psychological and cultural, and related to the level of development',
and further declares that 'the family is the most fundamental institution, a cornerstone, responding to humankind's "need for safe living, emotional sharing, and social support," as stated in Maslow's hierarchy of psychosocial needs,' emphasizing that 'as neuroscience and the Science of Happiness (Positive Psychology) have proven, humans are relational beings not programmed to live alone, and therefore an environment of "cooperation as a key concept" is beneficial for them.'
5S and 1M: The formula explaining family values
The manifesto states that 'relationship management within the family should be complementary-focused, not competition-focused,' and that 'one of the most important reasons for human isolation becoming a nightmare of modernism is the weakening of family ties, and that social transformation cannot occur without mental transformation.' It was noted that 'care should be taken to strengthen the concepts of 5 S, 1 M (Love, Respect, Loyalty, Patience, Sincerity, and Spiritual Accumulations), which best describe family values.'
It's not too late, act with collective wisdom!
The manifesto highlights that 'a child's greatest fortune is to grow up in a peaceful, reassuring family with common goals,' and emphasizes that 'if necessary precautions are not taken, an increase in crime, violence, addiction, and mental illnesses in society will be inevitable, and that a dynamic family is the core of a dynamic society,' and that 'despite everything, it is not too late, and the situation can be corrected urgently with short, medium, and long-term plans, for which not only the state but also individuals and NGOs need to form a common understanding.'