During his visit to Denizli, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participated in the “Meeting with Working Women” event at the Deniz Textile Factory, where the most female workers are employed in Türkiye, with 2,500 female employees.
Starting his address by extending his greetings to the audience, President Erdoğan stated that he was delighted to meet the women who produce, work, and create value in this plant with the highest number of female employees in Türkiye.
President Erdoğan congratulated Deniz Textile, which has a woman in its management, for making such a wise decision. He added that, in addition to the women working in the factory, women who run their own businesses as entrepreneurs and representatives of non-governmental organisations were present at the meeting and that this was the image Türkiye needs.
Emphasising that a society that excludes women from life has abandoned half of its potential and left the other half idle, President Erdoğan stated, “As a mother, the woman certainly embraces her children, home, and family with compassion and effort, but at the same time, she has a precious place with her labour, skills, determination, knowledge, and struggle as well.”
President Erdoğan stated that each time he met with women whose success in all spheres he followed with admiration, he lamented the fact that this great treasure of Türkiye was utilised so late, and also said:
“When we came to power, women’s labour force participation and the rate of entrepreneurship were so low that it was difficult to believe. Our era in the history of the Republic is one in which women have been able to exercise their rights and freedoms to the fullest extent and demonstrate their presence in all areas of the business world through their efforts and skills. We have increased the percentage of women who have completed at least one level of education from 70 per cent to 88 per cent. We have always stood by our women by providing support to those who work and live at home with their families and children. Our women, who previously had a labour force participation rate of 27 per cent, now have the highest rate in the history of the Republic at 36 per cent. We have increased the number of employed women from 6 million to approximately 10.5 million.”
President Erdoğan continued his words as follows:
“We have fought against a fascist mentality that once tried to prevent our women from entering schools and factories, let alone governing bodies, by using their clothing and children as justifications. Moreover, they attempted to promote this primitivism under the guise of ‘modernity.’ As a result of our great struggle, we have gradually eliminated each of these obstacles, biases, and false beliefs. While working to save our nation from the disgrace of violence against women, we have also enacted affirmative actions for our women in all areas, from education to employment. We have supported our working mothers by expanding preschool education and care institutions. As a result, we now have the highest female representation in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, as well as female employment outnumbering men in many fields ranging from education to banking. The most visible manifestation of our faith in our women is that we are the first political party in Türkiye to formally and actually incorporate a women’s branch organisation, and I am the first president to implement this.”
