ABC News reports that after Turkey’s Vice Prime Minster Bülent Arinç asserted Monday that one reason his country is suffering a moral decline is women laughing in public, he was mocked by Turkish women posting laughing selfies on social media.
According to Hurriyet Daily News, Arinç said, “A man should be moral but women should be moral as well, they should know what is decent and what is not decent. She should not laugh loudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all times.” Arinc added that a woman refraining from publicly laughing “will protect her chasteness.”
Turkish women posted the selfies on Twitter accompanied by the hashtag #direnkahkaha, translated as “resist laughter.”
Some of the tweets posted were:
I’m a Turkish girl, 26 years old, and I can’t do anything but Smile!! #kahkaha #direnkahkaha #Bulentarinc pic.twitter.com/nEi4he1L2x
— Esra Kansu (@esrakansu) July 30, 2014
as a Turkish woman,no politician can tell me whether I can laugh or not.@bulent_arinc is so illiterate #direnkahkaha pic.twitter.com/BunflUWp4T
— Ebru Doğan (@elitkralice) July 30, 2014
Ha ha start your day with a laughter. We #TurkishWomen are #lol to @bulent_arinc. #direnkahkaha #direnkadin #kahkaha pic.twitter.com/K1kt7fQfLU
— SibelGul (@Sibellgul) July 30, 2014
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who is challenging Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for the presidency, took the opportunity to lambast Arinc on Twitter. He stated that not only was it necessary for Turkish women to laugh, but for all Turks to laugh.
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