Erdogan: Equality Between Men and Women is Against Nature

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, in a recent statement that has sparked outrage among advocates for gender equality and received global attention, stated that equality between men and women is against nature, as their natures differ. In a speech at an international conference in Istanbul on November 24, he said, 'Sometimes it is said here that men and women are equal. But equality among women and equality among men is a more accurate description.' He emphasized 'equality of women before the law' and expressed a preference for the term 'equivalent' instead of 'equality' for women. The Turkish president stated that Islam has defined the role of women as motherhood, saying, 'Some understand this, some do not. This cannot be explained to feminists, as they do not accept the concept of motherhood.' This reference to the topic of women's motherhood is not new. Erdogan had previously mentioned the saying of the Prophet Muhammad that 'Paradise lies under the feet of mothers,' stating, 'This is the approach we have towards them.' The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports that women's rights activists and a group of lawyers have criticized Erdogan's conservative policies since he became Prime Minister. According to the same website, Turkey's position regarding the gender gap in the 'World Economic Forum' has declined over the years, ranking 120 out of 136 countries. Erdogan's various statements have sometimes been controversial and have received relatively widespread coverage. He recently claimed that Muslims discovered America before Christopher Columbus and that Columbus 'wrote in his memoirs about a mosque located on a hill in Cuba.' According to activists cited by AFP, the statements of Turkish government officials regarding women and their treatment have fueled violence. Based on statistics from NGOs, over 200 women were killed in Turkey due to domestic violence in the first half of 2014.