Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has renewed his call for Muslim couples to eschew birth control, stating in a nationally televised speech that “Nobody can interfere in God’s work. The first duty here belongs to mothers.”
Speaking from Istanbul, Erdogan announced Monday that “no Muslim family” can use birth control and abide by their religion, speaking before the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV). “We will follow the road that my God and dear Prophet [Muhammad] say,” he told the audience.
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reports that his speech was intended to grant life advice to the young members of the TÜRGEV program, with birth control being only one of the dangers Erdogan encouraged his audience to avoid. The others included becoming a member of a terrorist group, with specific mentions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Islamic State (ISIS), and to avoid “addiction to technology.”
For much of his life as a public official, Erdogan has campaigned to discourage Muslim families from limiting the number of children they have, arguing that the religion demands procreation and active participation in the increase in the number of Muslims nationwide. The New York Times recalled in 2014 that then-Prime Minister Erdogan had led a campaign against cesarean sections, “arguing that women who give birth that way usually cannot have more than one child.” The Mayo Clinic suggests that the risk associated with…