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Erdogan's Abortion Gaffe

The Turkish prime minister's latest off-the-cuff remarks that compared the killing of 34 Kurdish civilians by military jets to abortion sparked fierce debate and left many utterly baffled, writes Jody Sabral. Women’s rights groups reacted immediately, saying Erdogan was once again politicizing women's bodies — just like the head scarf ban.

A woman shouts slogans during a demonstration to mark the International Women's Day in the Asian side of Istanbul March 6, 2010. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY)
A woman shouts slogans during a demonstration to mark the International Women's Day in the Asian side of Istanbul March 6, 2010. — REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's latest off-the-cuff remarks that compared the killing of 34 Kurdish civilians in December last year by military jets to abortion has sparked fierce debate in the country and left many Turkey-watchers utterly baffled. The Internet was immediately awash with cartoons depicting Erdogan wearing a dunce cap and images of F-16 fighter jets entering a woman’s vagina that read "state warning."

Andrew Finkel, a foreign correspondent and author who has lived in Turkey for over 20 years, described the comments as "mystifying" and wrote on his New York Times blog, Latitude: “Is the prime minister of Turkey losing his grip? Normally he has one hand on the pulse of the people, the other on his opponents’ jugular.”

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