Erdogan: Have at least 3 children

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Turkish families to have at least three children, saying a greater population will increase Turkey's power.

Erdogan, who was addressing a congress held by the National Association for Gerontology, said the decrease in the birth rate is rapidly increasing average age of the global population to above 60 years.

He noted that even two children in each family would not stop the regressive demographic trend.

"The more our population increases, the more we will be powerful," Aksam newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying.

He warned that Turkey could turn into an aging country by 2030, if the Turkish families failed to have at least three children.

Erdogan stressed that the Turkish families should not worry about their livelihood, pointing to India and China that have high populations and are turning into the richest countries of the world.