Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently declared that women are not equal to men and thus should not expect comparable treatment.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently declared that women are not equal to men and thus should not expect comparable treatment.

That and several other anti-feminist sentiments were part of an address he gave at an Istanbul summit on the topic of justice for women.

In his speech Erdogan expressed that the two sexes will never be peers as such a societal relationship is, “against human nature.”

It’s his belief that, per Muslim doctrine, the intended and only acceptable role for females is motherhood.

He further commented, "... You cannot place a mother breastfeeding her baby on an equal footing with men.”

The problem with feminists, according to the Turkish president, is that they don’t accept motherhood as a concept, and thus fail to understand the position of women.

Erdogan also cited the inappropriateness of delicate females performing heavy manual labor as support for his belief that they are not on par with men.

Views and statements such as those have drawn a great deal of criticism over the years.

Many feel that Erdogan is attempting to lessen the civil liberties currently afforded women in Turkey and chip away the secular nature of the culture as a whole.