Tags
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday urged Turkish women to have at least three children, saying a woman's life was "incomplete" if she failed to have offspring.
Erdogan's comments were the latest in a series of controversial remarks aimed at encouraging women to help boost Turkey's population, which had already risen exponentially in the last years.
The president emphasised he was a strong supporter of women having careers but emphasised that this should not be an "obstacle" to having children.
"Rejecting motherhood means giving up on humanity," Erdogan said in a speech marking the opening of the new building of Turkey's Women's and Democracy Association (KADEM).
"I would recommend having at least three children," added the president.
"The fact that a woman is attatched to her professional life should not prevent her from being a mother," he added, saying that Turkey had taken "important steps" to support working mothers.
Erdogan had on Monday said that family planning and contraception were not for Muslim families, prompting fury among women's activists.
In his speech on Sunday he went on to add: "A woman who says 'because I am working I will not be a mother' is actually denying her feminity."
"A women who rejects motherhood, who refrains from being around the house, however successful her working life is, is deficient, is incomplete," he added.
According to the statistics office, Turkey's population rose to 78.741mn last year, a growth rate of around 1.3%. The population in 2000 was less than 68mn.
But Erdogan indicated he wanted more, saying Turkey is a country "with great goals" and to achieve them "every member of the nation should be mobilised."
"Strong families lead to strong nations," he said.
Erdogan has two daughters and two sons with his wife Emine.
His younger daughter Sumeyye, who last month married defence industrialist Selcuk Bayraktar in a high-profile wedding, is the deputy chairman of KADEM.
Erdogan, a pious Muslim, has repeatedly annoyed feminists and women's activists with his comments on sex and family planning, once describing birth control as "treason".
The composition of Turkey's new cabinet under Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced last month also annoyed activists, with just one female minister, heading the family ministry, in the government.
But the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) which Erdogan co-founded angrily rejects allegations of sexism and says it has done more than any other Turkish government to encourage women to work.
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.