President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated all women of Turkey and the world on March 8, International Women’s Day, during the event “Heroic Women of Turkey” organized by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services at Haliç Congress Center on the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day.
Extending his love and respect to the mothers, spouses and children of the martyrs, Erdoğan referred to the short movie, which featured interviews with the mothers of martyrs, saying, “We have just listened and watched their remarks, their expressions full of emotion on the screen. How blessed mothers and how kind remarks...”
President Erdoğan said:
"In our belief, being the mother, spouse or child of a martyr is an equally special status just as martyrdom is the highest rank. Our God ushers in heaven for our martyrs. Our duty is to protect what they left behind in the best way possible as a state and nation. Thank God, we have built a very strong system in our country in this respect. We are trying to solve all the problems of our martyrs’ relatives in particular from employment to education. I believe with all my heart that this country stands thanks to the prayers of every individual of our nation, especially those of the families, mothers, fathers, spouses and children of our martyrs.
Soil is actually a field, a terrain, when you look at it, but when it is washed with the blood of martyrs; it is then called a homeland. Therefore, the blood of our martyrs is what makes this country that we live on a homeland. As mentioned by Arif Nihat Asya in his poems, as long as we have heroes watching for the hill of martyrs, no one could afford to silence our adhans, to take our freedom away, and to cast a shadow over our future. Although we cannot see our martyrs alive, we know that we will reunite with them and they will walk with us until the day of judgement."
President Erdoğan said that the issue of women would be debated and addressed in great detail around the world and in Turkey today, as is the case on every March 8.
Expressing that their view of women was very clear, Erdoğan said, "Since the first human being, half of the mankind is men and the other half is women. There remains no trace of mankind whichever one of them is taken away. The messages given in our holy book Quran comprise the entire mankind with reference to Muslim men and Muslim women. The respect and fondness we will show to our mothers, sisters, spouses, daughters and all women are actually on behalf of the entire mankind. Therefore, we must be feeling the same way for women that we think, want or expect for us as men."
Stating that the time for destruction was soon where there is discrimination, hostility or humiliation against women and newborn girls, Erdoğan continued his words as follows:
"The future of any society, which considers women a commodity rather than a human, and persecutes women for their gender, can never be bright. We never want to live through a century, a time when the girls of the Jahilliyah period (the period of ignorance) were buried alive. Is there an example of it today? Unfortunately, some societies still have this, but we do not want to experience this and we will not, and we will not let anyone experience it. Thank God, the essence of our belief and culture has no such discriminations. Surely, every individual has his own characteristics, limitations and abilities; the same thing applies between men and women and also among women themselves."
Indicating that assessing people with a single size, as if they were made by a lathe, except for their fundamental rights, was a not an equalitarian approach, but a despotic, fascist and perverted one, Erdoğan said, "Unfortunately, we must admit that humans have a cruel side. Today, we are witnessing persecutions that humans made on their kind through various motives and methods and that cannot be approved, as was the case throughout the history. Every day we see many reports and images coming from every corner of the world on this topic.”
Noting that they were saddened by the heart-wrenching tragedy of millions, who were oppressed because of their roots, beliefs or positions, humiliated, beaten, exiled or even killed, Erdoğan said, "Women have their share of this predicament for sure. With their children, women pay the heaviest price for all crises from natural disasters to wars, from famines to civil disturbances.”
President Erdoğan expressed that when we looked at the wreckages caused by the humanitarian crises ongoing for years in Syria, it was seen that women and children were mostly the ones trapped in the wreckage. He continued as follows:
"You will see the same scene at the camps where people displaced from their homes took refuge. The majority of our Syrian brothers and sisters living within our borders are also women and children. Haven’t we seen them in Idlib? While we see all these and our hearts are ripped out, the humanity remains silent about them unfortunately. Aren’t they women and children who suffer the most among refugees crowding at the land and sea borders with the hope of going to Europe? Aren’t women and children struggling to death there when their boats are punctured by Greek soldiers and they are left in the rough waters of the Aegean Sea?
So, what is the West doing in the face of all these incidents? Are their hearts ripped out in the face of all these? No. Do they raise their voice? No. We must question the humanity of those whose hearts are not ripped out and wrenched, whose mind is not numbed. I question them. Unfortunately, we are faced with a world, which turns its back on this scene, for the sake of maintaining its comfort and welfare."
President Erdoğan expressed that everyone knew the story how March 8 had become a special day for women, saying "Around 1.5 century ago, the celebrations of International Women’s Day, which started on March 8 of 1977 in the memory of working women who lost their lives during a strike in the USA, are surely important. I wish this day, which aims to draw attention to the problems of women, was a sensitivity for the crises of our day. Although a major part of around 1 million people who lost their lives during the humanitarian crisis ongoing for 9 years in Syria are women and children, we have not seen, heard or known anyone drawing attention to this matter in a robust manner. I am involved in it; I know very well what is going on. However, no country has any sensitivity in this respect, unfortunately. It is all empty talk... There is nothing else."
Erdoğan stated that no one condemned the persecutions against women among the hundreds of thousands of people at the doors of Europe, the barbed wires built in front of them, the efforts to send them back by beating and even shooting, and he noted the following:
"You see those children at the age of 3 or 5. You may have watched them on TV as they went to the Greek border, walking through the fields. I guess you watched how that 3-year old child walked to the border stumbling. I showed it to my grandson, too. Look, I said, that child is stumbling like you do. Do you know why? To get away from those bad guys. There is such a persecution there. My grandson asked me, ‘Are those the bad guys?’ Yes, son, these are the bad guys. They did it. Believe me, if they could, they would even bayonet these people. They have no conscience, they have no mercy, and they have no sense of humanity. "
President Erdoğan calls out to Greece
Calling out to Greece, Erdoğan said, "Hey Greece, these people will not come and stay in your country. They will go through you and go to another country in Europe. Why are you disturbed? We told you. Look, if it goes on like that, we will open these doors. You did not believe it. Hey Greece, I am calling out to you. Open your doors, too, -which they did- and be free of this burden. Let them go to other countries in Europe. There is no way out of this. If we are talking about a fair burden sharing, we are looking for partners for this fair burden sharing. We still have 3.5 million refugees."
President Erdoğan said that it was hypocrisy that the world with its calloused conscience celebrated March 8, International Women’s Day.
Expressing that it was beyond hypocrisy that those, who did not see the women killed by the terrorist organization, the girls who were taken away from their families and went through all kinds of abuse and driven to death, celebrated March 8, Erdoğan said:
"Did those who celebrate International Women’s Day come and visit the crying mothers who have been waiting for over six months at the doors of the HDP in Diyarbakır for their children kidnapped to the mountains? No, they did not. They don’t dare to. There are some conditions for them to come and visit those mothers. They always wait for these conditions to be met. There are some 11, 12, 13 of them who fled and went back to their families. We are speechless in the face of a world ignoring those who drive bulldozers over women defending their homes and lands in Palestine, those shooting girls walking in the streets, those who are attacking innocent people with rifle butts, dogs and gas whenever possible. Isn’t Israel doing the same there? It is doing the same. Don’t we see how they drag mothers on the streets? Don’t we see them dragging those women as they are trying to hug their children? However, what they say, 'If you talk to Israel like that, it will not be a good sign for relations.’ We are with the rightful, not with the superstitious. First, we need to distinguish this well. "
"I leave it to your discretion to think about the irony behind those, who commodify a woman’s body in grandiose packages in a worse manner than slave trade, use March 8 with the very same purpose,” said Erdoğan, noting the following:
"We also need to add it to this scene that those, who keep speaking of women’s rights all the time, remain silent in the face of the fact that women wishing to dress and live in accordance with their beliefs are not given the right to life. This is the point where the efforts to place women in a position separate from a human. Whenever we can make March 8 a date when all women’s issues are addressed rather than only a certain part of the society, then we will have attained a real women’s day in the world. "
President Erdoğan expressed that until that day everything said about March 8 would be missing and everything done would be futile, saying, “We will continue to speak and discuss about human and women issue as the most honourable of the created as is indicated by our civilization and culture.”
Erdoğan said that they would continue to seek for the most auspicious for women, men and the entire humanity by solving the problems in practice, filling the missing pieces, and correcting the mistakes with the mentality of "We love the created for the sake of the Creator.”
"We have attached special importance to preserving our family structure"
"No one will be able to disrupt our unity and brotherhood. We will continue on our path with firm steps." Erdoğan said, and continued:
"Reforms focusing on women’s problems hold an important place among the reforms we have made during my term as the Prime Minister and President. We have made some critical arrangements across the entire legislation from our Constitution to the laws in order to protect women’s rights and eradicate discriminatory practices. In this context, we have attached special importance to preserving our family structure. We have taken effective measures to prevent violence against women, which, in our view, poses one of the biggest threats to the family structure. We will not allow the exploitation of these measures and will take additional steps to reach our essential target, if need be."
Rates of women in employment
Erdoğan said the increasing involvement of women in business life was a development that strengthened rather than undermined Turkey.
Pointing to the change in the rate of women in employment, Erdoğan noted the following:
"The rate of women in employment increased by nearly 45% from 2002 to 2019 and reached almost 9 million. The rate of women’s participation to labour increased from 27.9% to 34.9% and the total rate of women in employment rose from 25.3% to 28.8%. We have introduced all the necessary arrangements from maternity leave to kindergartens amongst others for our women who wish to fulfil their responsibilities in the family while engaging in business life. There is no longer a difference between girls and boys in education and training. In terms of participation to political life and decision making mechanisms, we have achieved the highest level in the history of our Republic. Although not sufficient, it is noteworthy that 104 out of 600 deputies in the Parliament are women."
Erdoğan stated that efforts toward achieving the goal of “happy women, harmonious families, prosperous society" would continue in the forthcoming period, and added that he considered a fair and harmonious society structure to be the assurance of the future for family-centred men and women.
Erdoğan said this was the way to sustainable development, and continued, "We will achieve the goal of great and strong Turkey together with our nation, its men and women as a whole. We are waiting for your support on this. Otherwise, this endeavour will be incomplete and fail to achieve its goal just like any other effort without the participation of women. Since we have confidence in Turkey’s women, we are aiming for the sky and continuously raising the bar for the struggle.
President Erdoğan stated that most of the problems encountered were related to the humanity as a whole beyond men or women alone.
Pointing to the historic transformation not only at the global but also at the regional level, Erdoğan said Turkey was located at the centre of this process and struggled to solve the humanitarian crises in the region and restore stability as well as attaining its own goals.
Stating that Turkey had to bear the brunt of the humanitarian crisis prevailing in Syria for the past 9 years on its own, Erdoğan continued as follows:
"In such troubled times, we could not turn our back on the people of this geography with which we have deep historical and cultural ties. We hoped, however, that we would receive much more support from the international society on this matter. I have a meeting with officials from the European Union in Belgium tomorrow. We will discuss these issues there, too. I hope that we will return from Belgium by obtaining different results. Our wish is to achieve some concrete outcomes apart from the expressions of sorrow and good will. We have fulfilled our obligations under the deal with the European Union. The European Union, on the other hand, has not honoured its commitments except for some contributions that are not even worth mentioning, aimed at stalling off. We are now holding meetings with this new team. I hope that we will obtain different results with this new team."
President Erdoğan said that no one could deny the high level of humanitarian standards that Turkey provided to nearly 4 million asylum seekers that no other country in the world could match, and continued, "We have provided more than 40 billion dollars in assistance while the European Union has extended an incomparable amount of only 3 billion Euros. There are 40 billion dollars on one side, and 3 billion Euros on the other.”
"Nobody is speaking up against these inhumane acts"
Erdoğan stated that following the recent developments in Idlib, Turkey took the steps it should have taken long ago, and continued:
"We have given the foreigners in our country the opportunity to go wherever they wish, in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Geneva Convention and other international agreements. Greece is trying to stop asylum seekers trying to reach its borders through the sea and land by beating, murdering, torturing and trying to drown them in the sea by puncturing their boats. Nobody is speaking up against these inhumane acts. On the contrary, they are supporting Greece. That reminds us of the late poet Mehmet Akif's following verse, ‘Civilization is a monster with a single tooth remaining in its mouth.’ Turkey will continue to bring up this atrocity on all international platforms and defend the rights of the oppressed. It is clear, on the other hand, that the Syrian crisis cannot be solved by solely caring for the displaced people. There is a need for more comprehensive and outcome-oriented approaches."
Erdoğan indicated that Turkey had to take concrete steps on the ground to ensure its border security in particular and fulfil its humanitarian responsibilities while also supporting a political solution, and emphasized this was the ultimate goal of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, Operation Olive Branch, Operation Peace Spring and Operation Spring Shield.
President Erdoğan said they believed Turkey achieved notable success in disrupting efforts to establish a terror corridor on Turkey’s borders and stopping the regime that is murdering its people, "If it were not for Turkey’s interference, at least another million in Idlib would be added to the total civilian death toll in Syria, which is 1 million so far. We managed to prevent this tragedy with the efforts that we have undertaken on our own and have given the whole world a lesson of humanity once again. In the meantime, we have faced a new and major burden created by 1.5 million new asylum seekers approaching our border and potentially 2.5 million civilians hanging back. We had to adopt a more active military stance in Idlib in order to stop the influx of asylum seekers and prevent the rampage of the regime targeting our territories as well.” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan said they also accelerated the search for diplomatic solutions given the trend of escalation in Idlib due to regime aggression and Russia’s insistence on the region’s status.
"We wish to ensure Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity as soon as possible"
"Turkey has never had an intention of invading or annexing the Syrian territory,” Erdoğan said, and noted the following:
"Our only goal is to establish an environment in which 3.6 million Syrians living in Turkey and 1.5 million on Turkey's border from Idlib can turn safely to their homes. Syrian people are already fighting against the regime and terrorist organizations for their own territory and freedom. We are supporting this fight with the wish that Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity be ensured as soon as possible. The fact that the regime targets a small region like Idlib with all its power and means while one third of the country is under the occupation of PKK/YPG terrorist organization shows that it has other concerns. If the concern of the regime was to liberate its territory, it would take action against the real threat, which is the terrorist formation on the country’s east. Instead, the regime is trying to wipe out the downtrodden people of Idlib. It targeted them with barrel bombs, unfortunately."
Reminding that in view of the grave situation, they reinforced their forces on the ground and took action to stop the regime, Erdoğan said that the regime, despite suffering unprecedented losses in every attack against our soldiers, continued to escalate the tension due to its character of surviving on blood.
"We have neutralized 3 thousand 400 elements of the regime"
President Erdoğan continued his speech as follows:
"During the past month when Turkey has actually been conducting an operation in Idlib, we had a total of 59 martyrs, 34 of whom were martyred on Laylat al-Reghaib. On the contrary, we neutralized 3 thousand 400 elements of the regime. We also destroyed 3 airplanes, 8 helicopters, 8 air defence systems, 156 tanks, 108 cannons, howitzers and multiple rocket launchers, 24 armoured vehicles, 49 heavy machine guns and pickups with heavy machine guns, 99 military vehicles, 10 ammunition depots, and 2 airports. Surely, our goal is neither to kill more people nor to destroy more equipment. Our only goal is to bring a solution to the humanitarian crisis in Idlib in the fastest and most effective manner. Since we have no hidden agenda, we have always pushed for diplomatic solutions.
This is the background behind the agreement we reached with Russia in Moscow on Thursday. Any solution to ensure the safety of life of the people of Idlib and the borders of Turkey is reasonable and acceptable for us. I hope that the agreement reached in Moscow will serve for these goals. We have no luxury to be unaccountable for or be irresponsible of any issue that involves human life, the lives of our soldiers. Both our nation and the Syrian people must rest assured. Turkey will continue its efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis and the political impasse in Syria in a more insistent and multifaceted manner. We stand behind all the words we have spoken to date about Idlib and our Syrian border; we are determined to put all of them into practice."
President Erdoğan underlined that the Operation Spring Shield reserved its right to cleanse these areas with their own methods unless the promises regarding the areas on the right and left of the region are not kept.
Expressing that Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity would not have been achieved unless the presence of the separatist terrorist organization was completely eradicated, Erdoğan said, "Lasting peace cannot be secured in Syria unless those who left their houses fleeing the regime, particularly those in Turkey return to their homes. We will give these tyrants a harder time in case the regime violates the agreement we reached with Russia once peace is established in Idlib. This must be known. I have clearly stated this during the press conference we held following the meetings in Moscow. It must be remembered that we reached this agreement only with the hope of finding a solution to the crisis in Idlib without further bloodshed. Hopefully, all the parties will fulfil their commitments in the period to come and we will achieve this goal. Otherwise, we will continue to walk the path we choose, as we have always done."