Regional fertility differences in Turkey:: Persistent high fertility in the southeast

The purpose of this study is to investigate regional fertility differences in Turkey at a provincial level, with a particular focus on high fertility in the eastern and southeastern regions. Furthermore, the study discusses the reasons for fertility fluctuations in eight southeastern provinces over the past two decades. This study offers maps showing the total fertility rates of the provinces between 1980 and 2000, and probes the ways in which regional fertility differences have arisen. A multiple regression analysis is also carried out in order to explain determinants of high fertility in southeastern Turkey. The study relies on population statistics issued by the State Institute of Statistics as well as Turkey Demographic and Health Surveys. The findings of this study underline that ethnicity and cultural factors are definitive of high fertility in southeastern Turkey. The use of local languages and the dominance of traditional cultural norms in the undeveloped eastern and southeastern regions with a large Kurdish (and partially Arab) population have created linguistic and cultural barriers. Thereby, unlike other regions where Turkish is the dominant language, the eastern and southeastern regions have mainly fallen outside the social interaction process that secures the adoption by individuals of modem reproductive behaviour, and these regions have persistently maintained a high level of fertility. Recent fertility fluctuations in eight provinces of southeastern Turkey are largely a consequence of the population's reduced access to family planning services due to the conflict between Turkish security forces and separatist Kurdish groups in the region. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.