Marriage is the basic family formation act in the society. In Turkey, most of the people are living in an
environment bounded by a marital union. Although there are people who live in institutional places
and who live alone, these are far from reflecting the reality of the social structure in Turkey in
general. Another point to be stressed about marriage is that nearly all childbearing takes part in a
marital union.
In Turkey there are two types of marriages widely experienced by the majority of the population.
One is the civil marriage which is the basis for a marital union in Turkey. Besides civil marriage,
religious marriage which is also recognized by the state provided that couples to be married with a
religious marriage should have a civil marriage prior to the religious marriage. Religious marriage is
also a common tradition shared by most of the population. Both marriages are accepted by the
majority of the population and most of the time both marriages are experienced by couples.