‘Erdoğan’s perspective on women is symbolic’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the opening ceremony of the İstanbul Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital on July 4. Speaking at the ceremony, he invited the women MPs of the party to the stage in following words: "Let's take our female MPs, albeit symbolically. Two of the are coming."

The remarks of Erdoğan have caused a public outrage, which has been expressed by several social media users over the weekend:

Erdoğan: Sembolik de olsa iki tane bayan milletvekili gelsin

Kadının adı sembolik
Kadınlar için ürettiğiniz politikalar sadece göstermelik pic.twitter.com/xy8DWfunUs

— Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu (@KadinCinayeti) July 4, 2020

We will Stop Feminicides Platform: "Erdoğan: 'Let's take two female MPs, albeit symbolically.' The name of women is symbolic. The policies that you develop for women are only for the show."

Bayan değil kadın, sembolik değil temsiliyet, tane değil vekil... Bunlar temel Türkçe ve vatandaşlık bilgisi.

— şengül hablemitoğlu (@s_hablemitoglu) July 4, 2020

Prof. Şengül Hablemitoğlu: "Not female*, but women; not symbolic, but representation; not a number of**, but MPs. These are basic knowledge of Turkish and citizenship."

İki sembolik Bayan çizer olarak, Paris'te ilk karikatür sergimizden. #SembolikKadınlar pic.twitter.com/j7lNYVf85w

— ramize erer (@ramizeerer) July 5, 2020

Cartoonist Ramize Erer: "From our first cartoon exhibition in Paris as two symbolic Women cartoonists. #SymbolicWomen"

Kadınlara siyasette "sembolik de olsa 2 bayan" yeri ayırınca bakınız; sembolik bir yeri dahi olamıyor! #SembolikDeğilEşitTemsil pic.twitter.com/2zede9GQAY

— Filmmor (@Filmmor_) July 4, 2020

Filmmor: "When you allocated room "for two females, albeit symbolically" in the politics, they cannot even have a symbolic place."

Journalist Banu Güven: "Language tells everything. 'Albeit symbolically', 'Female', 'A number of'..."

Hayko Bağdat: "'Let's take two female MPs here, albeit symbolically.' The summary of Erdoğan's perspective on women in one sentence."

Rüstem Batum: "Women MPs are 'symbolic' in the AKP. As for the HDP, they have 50-percent quota and co-chairpersonship for every duty. It is the difference between a 'symbolic equality' and a 'real equality'."

Academic Assoc. Prof. Esra Arsan: "People cannot be counted in numbers, in contrast to watermelons."

Campus Witches: "In an opening ceremony that he attended, Erdoğan said, 'Let's take two female MPs, albeit symbolically.' We will not be 'symbolic' in your male politics and world, we want equal representation! Our struggle will continue until your misogynist and reactionist mindset is no more."

Cansu Demir: "'Albeit symbolically', 'Female', 'A number of', 'Let's take.' It is the AKP's perspective on women. How language reveals itself..."

Writer-TV presenter-voice actor Yekta Kopan: "Good morning, symbolically... OK... Not everyone needs to say "Good morning," two will suffice. Yes, two... OK, let's stand there." (AÖ/SD)

* Erdoğan said "bayan" in referring to AKP's women MPs. The word "bayan" is a derogatory equivalent of "lady/female", used as a supposedly "polite" form of address as opposed to "woman," which is considered "vulgar" in some and particularly conservative circles.

** In referring to women in Turkish, Erdoğan did only say "iki" (two), but "iki tane", which referred to them in numbers. This word implies an objectification on the part of women as it is considered impolite in Turkish to refer to people with the word "tane" as if they were objects.