Turkish women not amused by deputy PM's no-laughter lecture
Social media in Turkey is full of laughing women following moralistic speech by deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc declaring ladies should not laugh out loud in public
Women in Turkey have taken to social media to protest against comments made by the country’s deputy prime minister that “women should not laugh aloud in public
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, one of the most senior members of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government sparked an outcry on Tuesday after declaring that women should not laugh loudly in public.
Women in Turkey have taken to social media to protest against comments by the country’s deputy prime minister that “women should not laugh aloud in public.”
“She should not laugh loudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all times.”
Arinc, one of the co-founders of the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), made his comments while lamenting the moral decline of modern society.
“A man should be moral but women should be moral as well, they should know what is decent and what is not decent,” Arinc said in a speech on Monday in the western Bursa region for the Bayram holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims.
“She should not laugh loudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all times,” he added.
Turkish women took to social media in droves to denounce Arinc’s comments, posting pictures of themselves deliriously laughing that have now gone viral.