Turkish gov’t places importance on integrity of family: Erdoğan
ANKARA
The Turkish government will make more efforts to preserve the integrity of the family concept in the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 19.
“We believe that our women can carry out their duties for the family while dealing with politics and civil society. But some are trying to display these as if they are alternatives to each other. They do not know Turkish women. In the upcoming period, we will put the family at the top of our priorities along with education and culture, and show this to the whole world,” Erdoğan said at his party’s women’s branch congress.
During the period of his government, the family has always been the focus of their services towards women, he said, adding that if the man is the pillar of the family, so is the woman.
The president also warned against “manipulations” targeting the concept of family and women via telecommunication channels.
“The collapse of the family in the West began with the commodification of women and their removal from this sacred duty. Huge operations against our family are being carried via television, movie, TV series and internet,” Erdoğan said.
He also called on citizens to have at least three kids.
“Although the population of our country is based on 84 million, we have seen that our population growth rate has decreased by half. Our population may even begin to decline. European countries face these threats. Turkey will not allow the same fate to fall. The way to maintain our population advantage is to take care of the family,” he stated.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has always been paying attention to policies regarding women, and the party has a significant number of female members, he stated.
“It was during this struggle that women in our country had a real and widespread voice in politics. Today, AK Party Women’s Branch has a power that is close to the number of members of all other political parties in our country, with more than 5.3 million members,” Erdoğan stated.
“For years, they did not let our girls into school because they were wearing headscarves, prevented their employment in the public sector, and belittled them on the streets. We have initiated a brand-new era in the lives of our women.”
The highest rate of female representation in parliament happened in the AKP period, he said, recalling that there are 54 women deputies in his party, along with two female ministers in the cabinet. “Our women reached the highest employment rate in our period. Some 60 percent of the teachers and half of the academics and judicial personnel are women,” the president noted.
