- Our Story
Looking back at human history, people all over the word are now living longer than ever before.
The proportion of the world’s population that is 65 and up almost doubled from 5.5 percent in 1974 to 10.3 percent in 2024. By 2074, this number is expected to double again to 20.7 percent, and the number of people aged 80 and over is expected to more than triple. Our country is aging in line with this trend, and faster than many other countries.
This situation has certain implications for everyone, young and old alike:
- Who will take care of the elderly?
- Who will cover the cost of care and support services, and how?
- How can we ensure the conditions for healthy and dignified aging in our country for everyone, men and women, rich and poor?
The realities, concerns and experiences many of us personally had while caring for elderly family members came together with the invitation of our Founding President Dr. Gülüstü Salur and brought us to form this association.
We are volunteers from different walks of life, men and women, young and old. We are active professionals, academics, business people, housewives, retirees, social activists and caregivers of the elderly.
We have strengthened the structure of our association step by step and built up our relations with institutions, especially municipalities and the Ministry of Family and Social Services.
We have always taken care to remain impartial to any political approach, party or interest.
Our goal is to combine the approaches, experiences and methods of medical and social sciences, entrepreneurs, NGOs and philanthropists, and to provide advocacy for elderly rights based on data.
In our activities, we have tried to bring together families as well as the society, the state, the private sector and civil society, with the aim of strengthening the intergenerational bonds and sense of responsibility that are still strong in our country.
Many people we consulted during our early days, especially those in communication, warned us against using ‘elderly’ or ‘old age’ in our name. Much as they were made in good faith, we ignored these warnings as they reflected old habits, and decided on the name “65+ Elderly Rights Association”.
Today, when we look back, we still remember the thrill of the first steps it took to get the expression “65+” established as a symbol in everyday language and to introduce institutions to the concept of “Elderly Rights”.
We set out with this excitement…
Are you curious about what happened along this long journey?
You will find out about it on the pages of this website.