Image by Arzu Geybullayeva, created via Canva Pro

In a move that has led to a mass public reaction in Turkey, the country is debating one question: “What is normal?” This came about in response to members of a men's football team from Sivas unfurling a banner at the start of a game that read, “Doğal Olan Normal Doğum” (What is natural is normal birth), implying that giving birth through ceasarian sections are not “normal” or somehow lesser than vaginal births.

Since then, scores of women on social media, as well as opposition politicians, journalists, and women's rights activists, have fired back. The discussions come as the country grapples with ongoing protests that started on March 19, after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

The banner

The widely criticized banner for the Ministry of Health's campaign to promote vaginal birth appeared on April 13, before the game between Sivasspor and Fenerbahçe.

According to the reporting by BBC Turkish, it is a long-standing tradition for Turkish football teams to take to the field with banners that serve as public service announcements. Whether submitted to the teams for evaluation by government institutions or non-profit organisations, the final decision rests with the Turkish Football Federation.

The banner did not go unnoticed by women's rights groups, journalists, or politicians, and led to strong reactions all around:

Tamam, siz “normal” doğum yaparsınız o zaman. pic.twitter.com/jXw0do8Mpu

— Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu (yeni) (@kcdplatformu) April 13, 2025

Ok gentlemen, then you have a ‘normal’ birth then.

We Will Stop Femicides Platform's representative Esin İzel Uysal told BirGün newspaper, “This situation reveals the policies of the government. The health of the mother and the baby is of primary importance here. No one has the right to say how a birth should be.”

An illustration that circulated on social media called on football players to mind their own business, and featured a drawing of a banner that instead focused on students being held behind bars.

“Normal doğum diye bir şey yoktur!” pic.twitter.com/J6KUpPI0Ou

— Wannart (@wannartcom) April 14, 2025

There is no such thing as normal birth. There is vaginal or caesarean birth. And that is none of your business. 83 students are still behind bars.

The leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Özgür Özel said at his party's parliamentary group meeting on 15 April: “It is up to a woman to decide how many children she will have, how she will bear them, how she will raise them, how she will dress, what she will eat, what she will drink, how much she will laugh. It is not for any of us to say anything about this. Stop talking and making decisions for women. These things make people ashamed to be men.”

Deputy Chairman of DEM Party Group Gulistan Kılıç Koçyiğit called the use of the banner “body politics” as it was akin to “saying that normal birth is normal or right, and that caesarean birth is wrong, and by doing so putting women under pressure.”

On April 14, Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu defended the banner. “Friends, it is not just men who attend football games,” he said, while answering a question about the banner. The minister also shared a video promoting “normal births” in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health stated in a press release that it “does not direct or impose a specific birth method for women; it conducts studies aimed at creating social awareness about the benefits of normal birth, based on scientific data.” According to the data shared by the Ministry, 61 percent of births in Turkey are performed by cesarean section.

Journalist Ece Uner, a host of news show on Halk TV aired the clip during the news hour, saying, “The Minister (of health) should be more concerned about what happens to a baby after its born, rather than how a woman gives birth after the country has been rocked by the newborn scandal. All births are normal. What is abnormal is men interfering in this.”

Actress Özge Özpirinçci also responded to the banner, posting the following text on her Instagram stories: “What should be normal is for your baby not to fall into the hands of the newborn gang. What should be normal is for your grown child not to be arrested while practising their constitutional right. What should be normal is for your child not to find themselves in the schoolyard protesting the layoff of their teachers. What should be normal is not changing the current status quo.” The actress alluded to the ongoing protests in high schools against layoffs and reassignments of their teachers at “project schools” as well as the “newborn scandal,” which rocked the country to the core in October 2024. The scandal revolved around a group of medical staff who profited from newborns’ care, subjecting them to intentional medical malpractice.

So far, only one member of the football team, Albanian player Rei Manaj, has issued an apology. Manaj wrote on his Instagram profile, “On my behalf, I apologize to all women; your body and your decision.” The football player also wrote that he was aware then of what the banner said in Turkish as he held it on the football field.

A graphic designer Mahir Akkoyun known as Mahirgra on social media platforms summed up the controversy in an Instagram post with the heading: “What is not normal” referring to the current political, social and economic environment, listing many of the country's recent and past problems, including femicides, the cost of living crisis, arrest of politicians, academics, and students, police violence and brutality, lack of accountability among top government officials after every single disaster or tragedy, and much more.

A declining birth rate

The ruling government's obsession with births is not new in Turkey. The incumbent president has long encouraged families to have at least three children. 2025 was declared a year of family, and as part of the existing mantra of three children, the ruling government sought to introduce financial incentives to encourage families, which would apply to births starting from January 2025. These incentives will be available until the child turns five, and there have been no mentions of any incentives to support families at a later stage.

The country's declining birth rate was first registered and announced in 2023 indicating a record-low of 1.51 births (compared with 2.38 in 2001). This is a significantly lower rate than 2.1, which is considered a threshold at which a population maintains equilibrium without shrinking, as per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data.

In May 2024, the Family and Social Services Ministry launched research in cities with the lowest birth rates and highest divorce ratios. In October 2024, the authorities launched the campaign, “What is natural is normal birth,” to address the country's declining birth rate. Speaking at the launch of the campaign the Minister of Health Memişoğlu spoke of the spike in c-sections and decline in natural births. In December 2024, as per President's order, the High Council on Population Policies was set up.

However, rather than setting up new institutions or creating new campaigns, activists say that the existing gaps and shortfalls in the country's medical services must be addressed. According to Turkish Medical Association Women's Medicine and Women's Health Branch Executive Member Dr. Derya Bulgur, the country's current medical system fails to meet all the necessary requirements for a mother to have a healthy, vaginal birth. In an interview with Evrensel, a Turkish media outlet, Bulgur highlighted the existing gaps, including insufficient medical and health services, a lack of HPV vaccinations, and few policies that prioritize women's health.

“The reason why Turkey is among countries with highest numbers in c-sections is entirely due to the inadequacy of free natural birth conditions, the displacement of midwives from the [medical] system and the fact private hospitals generate higher income during caesarean birth,” wrote writer Zeynep Altıok in an opinion piece for Turkish paper BirGün.

The discussions around the banner and what 11 male athletes have to do with a decision that concerns only two people — the mother and her doctor — continue turning a personal and medical decision into a country-wide debate.