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The remarks of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Group Deputy Chair Özlem Zengin about the presence and representation of women in Turkey before the AKP era have caused an outrage.
While the Motion Foreseeing Amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and Some Laws was being debated at the General Assembly of the Parliament yesterday evening (June 24), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Muş MP Gülüstan Kılıç Koçyiğit referred to a previous motion foreseeing amnesty for child abusers in case of marriage with the child.
In response to this, AKP Group Deputy Chair Zengin said that "there had long been a special effort to legalize terror through women" and stated the following about the Romani people and their alleged demand for such a law:
"We are the ones who did away with this. Whoever has a problem in Turkey, they come to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Don't we have our Romani brothers and sisters? Didn't they visit the CHP? Do your Romani MPs not say this to you every day? Didn't they visit the HDP? Didn't our brothers and sisters visit the İYİ Party and MHP?
"These people are legally married. We are talking about 286 people. These people are legally married and they keep having children while their spouses are behind bars. I mean, whose demand is that? Is it our demand? It is the demand of citizens themselves..."
Reactions on social media
Following this argument, Zengin also said, "Before the AK Party came, the word of woman had no name in this country."
As these debates were aired live on the official TV channel of the Parliament, the remarks of Zengin have soon caused an outrage, especially on social media. Some of these reactions were as follows:
AKP Grup Başkanvekili Özlem Zengin: "Bu ülkede AK Parti gelene kadar kadın kelimesi yoktu Türkiye’de."
— İrfan Aktan (@irfanaktans) June 24, 2020
Gerçekten demiş bunu. pic.twitter.com/lBeG6XAAWo
Journalist İrfan Aktan
"AKP Group Deputy Chair: 'Before the AK Party came, there was no word of woman in Turkey.' She did indeed say this."
Aşkolsun @AvOzlemZengin ne yaptınız öyle tüm arşivleri açalım o zaman, taa 1991'de kurulan 'Kadından' Sorumlu Devlet Bakanlığını 2011'de kim kapatmış okuyalım mı ? https://t.co/V2pP1F3a5z @Filmmor_ @esitiz @kadinih @hlyglbahar https://t.co/TevG8VZWcv
— Kadın Koalisyonu (@kadinkoalisyonu) June 25, 2020
Women's Coalition:
"Shame on you, Özlem Zengin. What did you do? OK, let's open all archives, then. Let's read who closed the Ministry of State for Women, which was established as far back as 1991, in 2011?"
Olaylar muhtemelen bilinmeyen bir galakside geçiyor, erkek şiddeti önergesi sonrası konuşan Özlem Zengin "ak parti öncesi kadın kelimesi yoktu" diyor.
— feminist avukatlar (@feministavukatt) June 24, 2020
He ya akp öncesi kadın cinsi icad edilmemişti, evlerde buzdolabı yoktu, buralar da hep dutluktu... pic.twitter.com/qo4Xce091I
feminist lawyers:
"The incidents are probably happening in an unknown galaxy. Speaking after a motion on male violence, Özlem Zengin says, 'Before the AK Party, there was no word of woman.' Yeah, you are right, the woman kind was not invented before the AKP, there were also no refrigerators at homes and, actually, there was nothing whatsoever back then..."
(EMK/SD)
* News and photos compiled from the AA and social media
