Gov’t determined to protect women and family: Erdoğan

ANKARA

The Turkish government is determined to protect the rights of women and strengthen the structure of families, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, stressing that women’s rights in Turkey saw most progress during the tenure of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“We are determined to achieve goals to strengthen the family and women’s rights,” he said on Dec. 3, speaking at an event marking the 86th anniversary of Turkish women’s suffrage.

“We consider every attack and threat made to the family directly as an attack on our existence,” Erdoğan said, stressing that the government is sensitive about preventing violence against women.

“We say that our nation is not a patriarchal or matriarchal nation, but a ‘family-ruled’ nation,” he stated.

In Turkey, there is a group of people that constantly comment on and criticize issues such as the environment, women, children and the disabled, he said. “They do not have the smallest acquis on these very issues they exploit. While we put forth all our efforts, we always face a disgraceful picture. In this respect, the CHP is a complete disaster.”

[HH] Erdoğan sues CHP chair over comments on Sledgehammer, Ergenekon cases

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for his comments claiming the government backed FETÖ when they launched Sledgehammer and Ergenekon cases against military officials more than a decade ago.

Erdoğan has demanded that Kılıçdaroğlu pay 500,000 Liras for his remarks in a group parliament meeting on Dec. 1.

“Weren’t you prime minister when the chief of General Staff of this country was jailed on charges of terrorism?” Kılıçdaroğlu had asked, referring to former top soldier İlker Başbuğ who was imprisoned for 26 months in 2013. Başbuğ was released only after a verdict by the Constitutional Court.

It was later proven that Başbuğ and many other senior military officials were prosecuted and jailed as a result of judicial plots orchestrated by FETÖ, a terror organization which attempted to overthrow the AKP government in mid-2016.

Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that Erdoğan was in cooperation with FETÖ in attempts to jail the military brass through the Sledgehammer and Ergenekon cases in the early years of the AKP rule.