Women file complaint against deputy PM who said they shouldn’t laugh

ISTANBUL

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies Melda Onur, Aylin Nazlıaka and Mahmut Tanal were among the participants of the demonstration before the filing of the complaint

A Turkish NGO that advocates for the prevention of murders targeting women has filed a criminal complaint against Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç for his suggestion last week that women should not laugh in public.

“Why do they want a country where the number of people who cry is more than the number of people who laugh? This is the question that they should answer,” “We Will Stop Women’s Murders Platform” group spokeswoman Gülsüm Kav said Aug. 4 during a protest in front of Istanbul’s main courthouse.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies Melda Onur, Aylin Nazlıaka and Mahmut Tanal were among the participants of the demonstration before the filing of the complaint.

Onur claimed that Arınç’s controversial statement suggests that laughing is not a “chaste” action for a woman. “Highlighting a woman as a target like this may one day make her the victim of a murder,” she added.

Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office will decide whether to bring a suit against Arınç with charges including hate and discrimation, making insults, as well as inciting hate and enmity as claimed in the complaint.

Nazlıaka filed another complaint against Arınç last year, after claiming that he applied “psychological violence” during her at Parliament’s General Assembly sessions.

“Chastity is so important,” Arınç said while speaking during an Eid el-Fitr meeting on July 28, triggering outrage and mockery. “It is not only a name. It is an ornament for both women and men. [She] will have chasteness. A man will have it, too. He will not be a womanizer. He will be bound to his wife. He will love his children. [The woman] will know what is haram and not haram. She will not laugh in public. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness.