This Major World Leader Just Said ‘A Woman Is Above All a Mother’

In this Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014 photo provided by the Presidential Press Service, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a meeting at his new palace in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish media reports say a teenager was taken away from his school and detained by police for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hurriyet newspaper says the 16-year-old high-school student, identified only by his initials M.E.A., was arrested Wednesday in the central city of Konya for making a speech at a student protest a day earlier. The boy reportedly said Erdogan was regarded as the "thieving owner of the illegal palace" in reference to a government corruption scandal as well as a controversial 1,150-room new palace Erdogan inaugurated in October. (AP Photo/Turkish Presidential Press Service)

Photograph by Turkish Presidential Press Service — AP

During a speech marking International Women’s Day, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he believes “above all else” women are mothers.

“I know there will be some who will be annoyed, but for me a woman is above all a mother,” Erdogan told an audience of women in Ankara, reports AFP. He also urged the audience to “protect the family” and blamed the capitalist system for “enslaving” women for profits.

“You cannot free women by destroying the notion of family,” said Erdogan.

Erdogan’s views on women have long been criticized by rights advocates. The Turkish president has previously said that women are not equal to men, called the promotion of birth control “treason,” urged Turkish women to have at least three children, and proposed limits to abortion rights and Caesarean sections.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

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