WUNRN
Website Link Includes Video.
TURKEY – PRESIDENT TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY BY DECLARING “WOMEN ARE NOT EQUAL TO MEN.”
The Turkish President has triggered fresh controversy, declaring
in a speech that women are not equal to men.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also
criticised the feminist movement, claiming they do not accept or understand the
concept of motherhood.
He spoke at a global justice and women’s summit in Istanbul.
An English translation of his speech at the event said: “You
cannot make an equality between men and women; they are not equal. They are of
a different nature. Their system is different.
“You cannot make women work in all the jobs where men are
working, as it was the case in the communist regime.”
One prominent Turkish women’s rights activist has slammed the
comments as against the constitution and the law.
Erdogan has previously angered women’s rights groups by stating
that women should bear at least three children and by attempting to outlaw
abortion.
Earlier this month he raised eyebrows by declaring that Muslims
had discovered the Americas before Christopher Columbus.
Copyright © 2014 euronews
European Women’s Lobby – EWL - http://womenlobby.org/news/ewl-news/article/it-is-not-fitrah-creation-but
Turkey - Women & Men Have Equal Rights !
[Ankara, 25 November 2014] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once
again made his public claim that women and men cannot be equal. He had
expressed his view back in 2010.
This claim of Erdogan is against all the international declarations and
agreements about gender equality that Turkey had undersigned. Besides,
according to the gender gap report of the WEF, Turkey is 125th among 142
countries in terms of gender equality and President Erdogan’s claim made it
official that Turkey will not execute policies to achieve gender
equality !
The article 10 of the Turkish Constitution states that “Men and women have
equal rights. It is the responsibility of the Turkish State to realize this
equality.” Therefore, President Erdogan breaches the Turkish Constitution with
his claim.
President Erdogan wants to destroy all the progress that the women’s
movement has achieved for decades. This claim is also against CEDAW and the
Istanbul Convention that Turkey had signed. According to the article 90 of the
Turkish Constitution the signed international agreements are regarded as law in
Turkey. This claim is also against 1995 Beijing, Beijing +5,+10,+15 and all
related UNCSW agreements. We, once again remind that justice cannot be achieved
without equal rights. We witness the fact that violence against women is
increased by 1400% mainly because of denying the international equality clause
like this.
Many women’s rights organizations have signed this call, including the
European Women’s Lobby who fully supports its Turkish members that once again
remind that equality is not something that we bargain, it is a democratic and
an international right. We totally reject this claim which aims to take our
basic rights that we had gained 100 years ago !
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________