Ismail Tufan

Türkiye currently falls into the category of countries with a significant elderly population as of 2023, according to criteria set by the U.N. Population Fund, with experts noting that the anticipated projection of the population aged 65 and over will exceed 9.5 million next year.

Türkiye's population, like the rest of the world, is aging and new social arrangements should be made to address the emerging needs of a shifting demographic, experts have said.

The population aged 65 and above reached around 8,722,000 people in 2023, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

At the Refreshment University, which was opened for citizens aged 60 and over within the body of Akdeniz University in the southern province of Antalya, male students knit and cook, while female students receive training in repairs.

Some 387 students who are over the age of 60 have completed their first year at a course dubbed "refreshment program" at Akdeniz University in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

After a Turkish university professor and his team collected an unprecedented amount of data on life expectancy in Turkey, daily Hürriyet reporters visited the miracle towns, spoke to their inhabitants and learned from them how they live and age.