Erdogan: “Have Five Children. You Are the Future of Europe”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turks living in Europe to move into better neighborhoods, drive better cars, live in better houses, and have five children instead of three, declaring that they are "the future of Europe" and that this would be the best response to discrimination against them.
The remarks, delivered at a rally in 2017, were directed squarely at the estimated 5 million Turks living across Europe, many of whom hold EU citizenship in their countries of residence. Erdogan framed demographic growth as a form of political retaliation, urging Turkish communities to expand their presence and influence across the continent.
"Attack, not defend," Erdogan told Turkish diaspora operatives backed by the Turkish state.
The speech was not an isolated comment. Erdogan has repeatedly used the Union of International Democrats, a proxy organization backed by the Turkish government, to mobilize Turkish diaspora communities across Europe behind Ankara's political agenda. He has told UID operatives to "attack, not defend" and promised them full backing from Turkish state institutions.
European officials have previously warned Ankara that these efforts undermine integration policies and destabilize Turkish and Muslim communities in member states. A European Parliament resolution in 2017 called on Turkey to stop systematically mobilizing its diaspora in EU countries for political purposes.
Erdogan has been explicit that he views Turks abroad not as citizens of their adopted countries, but as representatives of the Turkish nation, no different from the 85 million people living inside Turkey's borders. His calls for higher birth rates and political assertiveness fit a pattern of treating European Turks as an extension of Turkish state power rather than integrated residents of sovereign nations.
