Have ‘at Least 3 Kids’, Erdogan Tells Turkish Women

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday urged Turkish women to have at least three children, saying a woman’s life was “incomplete” if she failed to have offspring.

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“Rejecting motherhood means giving up on humanity,” Erdogan said in a speech marking the opening of the new building of Turkey’s Women’s and Democracy Association (KADEM).

“I would recommend having at least three children,” added the president.

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In his speech Sunday he went on to add: “A woman who says ‘because I am working I will not be a mother’ is actually denying her feminity.”

“A women who rejects motherhood, who refrains from being around the house, however successful her working life is, is deficient, is incomplete,” he added.

According to the statistics office, Turkey’s population rose to 78.741 million last year, a growth rate of around 1.3 percent. The population in 2000 was less than 68 million.

But Erdogan indicated he wanted more, saying Turkey is a country “with great goals” and to achieve them “every member of the nation should be mobilised.”

“Strong families lead to strong nations,” he said.

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