PM Yıldırım praises women’s role in politics under AKP

MUĞLA

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a party that “denies all kinds of discrimination,” praising the record of women’s participation in public life under AKP rule.

“The AK Party is a party that brings women’s work and women’s minds into politics. This is why the AKP has been scoring victories for 15 years,” Yıldırım said on March 4, speaking at an AKP women’s branch rally in the southwestern province of Muğla.

“Women were the pioneers when this big movement first started. You have always given us power, embracing our party,” he added.

The prime minister also noted that many executives of top companies are women in Turkey.

“We do not accept any understanding that regards women’s labor as a cheap labor in working life. We do not accept discrimination against women and we condemn violence against women,” Yıldırım said.  

Celebrating March 8 International Women’s Day, he claimed that women in Turkey have gained more rights under AKP rule since 2002.

“Today the number of AK Party members exceeds 10 million, 4.5 million of whom are women. This is a picture of pride,” he said.

Yıldırım noted that although just 40 of the AKP’s 800 local mayors are women, 40 percent of workers in state offices are women and in universities half of all research assistants and academics are women.

“Some 65 percent of teachers are women. Our women are preparing our children for the future,” he said, stressing that the number of girls attending school has risen under AKP rule while the number of female university students now exceeds the number of male students in Turkish universities.