Erdoğan marks anniversary of women's suffrage

Photo: AA

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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has marked the 86th anniversary of women's right to vote and be elected.

"Standing against everyone, whether a terrorist or politician, who targets women's pecuniary and non-pecuniary rights is our duty as human beings and a necessary duty as president," Erdoğan said at an event at the headquarters of his party yesterday (December 3).

Claiming that AKP is the party in Turkey that supports women the most, Erdoğan said its women's branch currently has 5.2 million members.

"We continue to support women as individuals, and as mothers, wives, and children, in every area, especially in education and business life," he added.

Also mentioning debates on the İstanbul Convention for violence against women, Erdoğan said problems are caused not by the essence of the convention but by some wrong practices.

Condemning violence against women, Erdoğan said: "Regardless of the reason, we take women victims under the protective umbrella of the state."

"We take our 83 million citizens as members of one large family in Turkey," he said, adding: "With this understanding, we consider every attack or threat against a family as a direct attack on our existence."

Erdoğan said it is the government's duty to protect all young girls that have been kidnapped to the mountain hideouts of the terrorist PKK the same way it protects women who face violence.

"Just as we protect every woman who is abused, it is our duty to protect females who are discriminated against due to their beliefs and dress," he added. (DŞ/VK)