Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has caused huge controversy after making controversial remarks regarding equality.

Erdogan's recent statement that men and women are not equal, which he gave when speaking to a conference on women and justice in Istanbul, has made headlines all over the world after he claimed "you cannot put women and men on an equal footing. It is against nature."

He continued to say that men and women were created differently and therefore females could not be expected to undertake the same work as men, adding "their nature is different. Their constitution is different". He also added that women are given a special position in Islam, that of motherhood, which is "the highest position", but "you cannot explain this to feminists. They don’t accept motherhood."

Hulya Gulbahar, a lawyer and women’s rights activist, responded to say that his statements were not only in violation of Turkey's laws and the constitution, but also a number of international conventions on gender equality. She also stated that they were dangerous, as they play "an important role in the rise of violence against women". 

Via The Irish Examiner