Turkish Deputy PM promotes marriage, even at early ages

BURSA/ KONYA

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç emphasized the importance of conjugal unions for society, even at early ages, speaking at two ceremonies in different cities over the weekend. DHA photo

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç emphasized the importance of conjugal unions for society, even at early ages, speaking at two ceremonies in different cities over the weekend.

“We believe that marriage, even at early ages, is a very rewarding thing,” he said at the wedding ceremony of a son of Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Kerim Özkul in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.

Marriage helps strengthen the foundations of society and raise new generations, he later said at a circumcision ceremony in Bursa.

However, unlike Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Arınç refrained from giving specific advise as to the number of children couples should have. “We don’t have a number [of children] in our mind and we don’t necessarily want to increase it like prime minister does,” he said.

Erdoğan repeats on many occasions his call for Turkish families to bring up at least three children.

Speaking at the same ceremony in Bursa, Deputy PM Arınç also said he was upset that the ceremony had begun with the march marking the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Republic, rather than the Ottoman military band march.