Hurriyet Daily News reported that the highest religious body leader recommended that Islamic preachers in Turkey be more careful when speaking of or about women.

Ali Erbaş, the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey, made the comments at a meeting on March 10 in the southeastern parts of Hakkari in Turkey. He argued for the means to prevent the abuse of religion was through providing the truths of Islam.

“Even preachers who speak and work with good intentions and sincerity should be extra careful not to make their comments open to misinterpretation,” he said, “Everyone who writes, talks, or reports about Islam has to be more careful.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized many Islamic writers for their sexist commentaries and then Erbaş made comments shortly thereafter.

Erbaş reflected on the July, 2016 attempted coup, where he considers that the “truths of Islam were misused and exploited.” He connects this to groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or ISIL.

At the March 8 International Women’s Day event, the President of Turkey opined about the marginal people looking to discount the values of Islam or the country of Turkey. Nureddin Yıldız, the head of the Social Fabric Foundation made some controversial statements about violence against women, which sparked the debate and the need for both the religious leader and the president to comment around the sparked debate as well.

It started with the words from a video posted online by Yıldız, which said, “Women should be grateful to God, because God allowed men to beat women and be relaxed.”

Photo Credits: World Bulletin