ANKARA Children accounted for 25.5 percent of the country's total population in 2024, with the most popular baby names being "Alparslan" for boys and "Defne" for girls, according to the latest figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute ( TÜİK ). By the end of 2024, Türkiye's population stood at 85.6 million, with more than 21.8 million of them aged between 0-17, the age group classified as children by the United Nations, TÜİK announced on April 18. Boys made up 51.3 percent of this group,