'Every family in BiH must have at least five children,' says Turkish PM

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
(Source: Anatolia)

The Turkish Prime Minister has stated the importance of increasing the birth rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina during a fly-in visit to the nation at the weekend.

Speaking to students at the University of Sarajevo on Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that the situation surrounding Bosnia's declining birth rate must be addressed in order to generate a "young and dynamic population".

During his address, Erdogan called upon Bosnian families to have at least five children, whilst drawing reference to a previous statement he made in Turkey, in which he signalled for every family to have at least three children.

The Prime Minister believed that taking such action would comprise of a number of benefits for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"The foundation of the economy is manpower," Erdogan said.

"If there are people there and effort, then there is capital, production and consumption. If there are no people, then there is none of the above.

"Consequently, success is in a young and dynamic population. Economics has developed thanks to the people. Where there is no manpower, you cannot speak about the economy."

Erdogan also sighted issues in other areas of Europe in order to further caution Bosnians.

"Today, one of the biggest problems in European countries, in terms of population, is the large number of old people," he said.

"Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina should do something so that it does not fall into this situation."

DURING his visit to Bosnia, the Turkish PM also accepted an award on behalf of Ottoman statesman Isa-Beg Ishakovic, the founder of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.