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Erdogan declares birth control treason

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest blunder hints at the Justice and Development Party’s changing approach to women’s rights.
Women hold signs as they take part in a demonstration against government plans to ban or limit the practice of abortion in Turkey, on June 17, 2012, in Ankara. Some of the signs read "End the killing of women". A majority of Turks oppose a ban on abortion as the Islamist-rooted government moves to try and limit the practice, according to a survey published on June 11. A total of 55.5 percent said they opposed a ban, while the remaining 44.5 percent were for it, according to the Konsensus research centre pol

On Dec. 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a wedding ceremony of the son of businessman Mustafa Kefeli. Erdogan and his wife posed with the happy couple and their families in front of the cameras at a fancy Istanbul hotel. This would normally not have been more than a short and happy news item in a magazine or on a TV show, yet the ceremony ended up on the front-page of the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet. Erdogan did it again! He poked at one of the favorite nerve centers of the opposition, particularly the seculars and women. Yet, this time the results were less than satisfactory.

Erdogan directly looked into the eyes of the young couple and said, referring to the number of his children, “One [child] will be lonely; if there are two, they will be rivals; three will be a balance; four will bring abundance and for that I say Allah Kareem [God is generous].” His words could be regarded as well wishes from a family friend to a young couple, but Erdogan did not stop there. “For years, treason has been committed by means of the enforcement of birth control in this country. They aimed to dry up the bloodline of our nation,” he added.

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