'Those who live alone are at the root of the problems,' says AKP Deputy Chair

* Photo: Halil Sağırkaya - Ankara / AA

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Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş spoke at the Family Congress jointly organized by the Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions (Memur-Sen) and Ankara University of Social Sciences in the capital city today (August 14).

Referring to family as a "stem cell", Kurtulmuş has argued that "social diseases can be healed by keeping family strong." 

"If we can keep the family strong, if we can keep the family, a stem cell, strong and protect and heal it, we can heal other social diseases as well, thereby keeping it alive in this mortal society," he has said.

Further on this "stem cell" metaphor, he has added: "Despite sinister ideological and perverted behaviors oriented towards damaging the family structure in Turkey, despite the global activity of some circles working systematically, the stem cell of Turkish society is strong."

'We will be against marginal ideas'

In his speech, Kurtulmuş has also criticized the ones who live alone. Referring to "extreme hedonist movements caused by extreme individualism and simultaneously developing into ideologies," Kurtulmuş has argued that these movements "put a dynamite at the root of the family."

According to AKP's Numan Kurtulmuş, "one of the most important sources of the problems that they have about the family today is the development of an understanding where the individual, who has become isolated, finds marriage unnecessary and lives alone." 

"We will watch out for marginal, extraordinary ideas and ideologies that do not belong to us and will blow up the family," Kurtulmuş has said, adding that "they will always be vigilant about all this and they will be on the alert to prevent the crops and generations being destoyed by this."

'The sick mentality turning women and men into rivals'

Numan Kurtulmuş has also indicated that family is a guarantee for the future, noting that "the family should not be undermined or worn out, speculations should not be made through the family and people should not plunge into new quests for alternatives to the family."

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), he has said:

"We are a nation which has a tradition where women and men are not rivals, enemies or foes within the family. Woman and man are two precious creatures of God who have not come together as rivals, enemies or individuals arguing about differences in gender roles, but have come together to complete one another, to create love and affection."

Noting that "women are not superior to men and men are not superior to women," Kurtulmuş has continued as follows:

"If some people talk about the superiority or privilege of women or men due to their creation or human qualities, I would like to say that it is wrong. The mentality which turns women and men into enemies and rivals is a sick mentality. We need to keep an eye out for all these and protect our family."

'He is not a man, not even a human'

Kurtulmuş has said that the traditional Turkish family structure should be protected and improved, briefly adding the following:

"We have to defend women's rights to the end, we have to stand up against violence targeting women to the end and close all roads leading to violence against women, with the knowledge that a person who inflicts violence on a woman is not a man, not even a human.

"I would like to indicate that I strongly condemn the portrayal of violence against women as a quality of the Turkish society. Violence against women is a crime against humanity."

'Family is a crime scene in İstanbul Convention'

Memur-Sen Chair Ali Yalçın has also said:

"For instance, the marriage contract, which is the basic element of family, is trivialized. Illicit structures created through perverted relationships and affairs out of wedlock replace traditional family as 'new family forms'.

"In addition to this, in the language of the İstanbul Convention and the Law no. 6284, family is addressed with negative connotations as if it was a 'crime scene' or a 'scene of incident' where women are oppressed and which is the center of violence against women."

Yalçın has also said, "...it needs to be finally understood that we cannot protect family with regulations that have ideas estranged from our social, religious and cultural structure. At this point, we need to approach incidents and facts from a holistic point of view." (AS/SD)