ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has set off a new controversy, declaring that women are not equal to men and accusing feminists of not understanding the special status that Islam attributes to mothers.
Addressing a meeting Monday in Istanbul on women and justice, Erdogan said men and women are created differently, that women cannot be expected to undertake the same work as men, and that mothers enjoy a high position that only they can reach.
He said: “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing. It is against nature. They were created differently. Their nature is different. Their constitution is different.”
Erdogan, a devout Muslim, often courts controversy with divisive public comments. He raised eyebrows this month by declaring that Muslims had discovered the Americas before Christopher Columbus.
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