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Hundreds of Turkish women posted pictures of themselves laughing on Twitter on Wednesday to protest against comments by Deputy Prime Minister B\u00fclent Ar\u0131n\u00e7, who has urged women not to laugh in public to “protect moral values.”<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Melda Onur, a lawmaker from the main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP) said on Twitter that Ar\u0131n\u00e7’s comments portrayed laughing as a dishonorable act and left women exposed to violence.<\/p>\n Opponents accuse Prime Minister Tayyip Erdo\u011fan’s government of ruling in an increasingly authoritarian manner and meddling in people’s private lives, which has long been a source of conflict between the country’s secularists and Erdo\u011fan’s conservative supporters. Erdo\u011fan is running to become the first directly elected president of predominantly Muslim Turkey.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ar\u0131n\u00e7, one of the co-founders of Erdo\u011fan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said this week at a celebration of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan: “The woman should have chastity. … She should not laugh in front of everyone and not be inviting in her behavior. She should protect her honor.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One women’s organization said it would file a criminal complaint against the deputy PM.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ar\u0131n\u00e7’s comments, in which he also criticized television soap operas for promoting decadence, also drew criticism from opposition presidential candidate Ekmeleddin \u0130hsano\u011flu, who tweeted: “Our country needs our women to laugh and to hear everyone’s joyful laughter more than ever.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The deputy prime minister made further comments on the issue on Wednesday. He said a part of his speech had been tweezed out, misrepresenting the sense of his actual words; but this time, he also expressed his opinion that women should not travel alone. Ar\u0131n\u00e7 said: \u201cThey have taken a part of that speech. If I had only said women shouldn’t laugh, that would have been irrational. But I was making a speech regarding moral values. There are those [women] who leave their husbands [at home] and go on holiday; those who find it hard to resist climbing a pole when they see one. You might live your life like that. Rather than being angry, I pity you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He didn’t elaborate on what he meant by \u201cclimbing a pole.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ar\u0131n\u00e7 said his entire speech had been one-and-a-half hours long, adding, \u201cThankfully, some networks broadcast the entire speech.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/archive.womennet.amwp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/turk-women-2.jpg\")
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