As the Chairwoman of the Felicity (Saadet) Party's Women's Branch, you are under a heavy responsibility. We also know that General President Temel Karamollaoğlu attaches great importance to women's branches. As the Women's Branch, where expectations are so high, what kind of work plan do you have in the new period?
First of all, I would like to thank our Milli Gazete and its team for giving us this opportunity. Yes, we are new president, but I would like to underline that we will continue to implement the decisions and plans we made together with our previous president Ms. Ebru in a more dynamic and active way. As the women's branches, the president has gone, will the new president come with new projects? No. We will continue our existing projects, and we will strive for which projects and with which techniques we can put forward based on the need.
OUR GOAL IS TO ENTER THE ASSEMBLY WITH A STRONG STAFF
As the Women's Branch, we started the election and we went down to the districts and neighborhoods in the ballot box studies. Our organization is ready for elections with all its units. Now our goal is to reach the voters. As the Saadet Party Women's Branch, the representative of National Vision (Milli Gorus), we have done serious studies on basic needs, problems and agendas of women in our country and produced solutions. We will explain them one by one when we land on the field. And in the elections to be held in 2023, we will enter the parliament with a strong staff.
VIOLENCE MUST NOT BE MADE AN EXHIBITION
Since you are the Women's Branch unit, the work you do is very important both for the party and for the society. That's why we find your point of view on major issues of the country important. First of all, violence against women is one of the most important problems of our country, unfortunately. What do you think is the reason for the recent increase in violence against women? As the Saadet Party Women's Branch, do you have any suggestions for a solution to violence against women?
Violence, actually, appeared with the children of Adam (A.S.). We see this in the stories of the Qur'an and hadith-i sharifs easily because we have the Islamic faith. So violence has always existed. Is this something desired? No. Every period, there are various motives that feed it, create it, and keep it going. It is a situation that exhausts us physically and mentally, even when we speak of violence against women. Here we see the reflection of neoliberal policies on the family. Big fish swallows small fish. We're starting to see the same in the family. We see that while the father inflicts violence on the mother, the mother inflicts violence on the child or the child on the child. It is seen as the strong oppressing the weak. Did this exist? Of course there was. Was it that obvious? It wasn't. The media, in particular, has a very serious influence here. Will the media not reflect violence against women? It will reflect, but society has a wound. The media will convey the wounds of the society to politicians, civil society and the public. However, it has to be done without making it a spectacle. Unfortunately, when we turn violence into a spectacle, it has very serious repercussions.
IT IS REQUIRED TO VIEW VIOLENCE AS A COUP TO HUMANITY
We say; A woman should not be mentioned only with violence. Violence becomes normal as you watch the second one. And we show the method to perpetrators who are prone to violence. Statements in a serious study of violence reveal the causes of violence. In these statements, most of the perpetrators include statements such as "I watched this event in the program many times and planned accordingly" or "this incident was an example for me". We hear about violence against women or religious violence or mobbing all over the world. However, if the press had created this not as a spectacle, but as a wound of the society, we could have sought a solution instead of whining. Of course, it is not possible to say that the only culprit here is the media. Politicians' aims of making politics cannot go beyond being cyclical. This is the most important feature that distinguishes the Saadet Party from other parties. Unfortunately, most politicians are trying to save the day. With two social media posts they think they have done their duties. It is necessary to understand the words of Erbakan Hodja, "We are working for the happiness of all humanity". Civil society and politics need to be very strong and active in this sense. Especially nowadays, civil society has a very serious task to do. If we call violence against women as gender discrimination, this time we will see masculism from the other side. We have to see violence as the greatest blow and crime against humanity.
VIOLENCE IS FROM OUR CULTURE, NOT OUR FAITH
We, as the Saadet Party, say; Let's take the responsibility to eradicate violence against women, murder and all violence. How should it be resolved? What is the task of politics? What are the responsibilities of civil society and the media? They need to sit and talk. Family says: media is responsible. The media says; politicians are responsible, politicians say media is responsible. Everyone prefers to avoid responsibility by throwing them on each other. There is a research conducted by examining the resources of the General Directorate of Security in 2016 and conducting field studies. In the research, it is stated that the most important reason that triggers violence is the economy. It is not possible for us to solve violence in the family unless we solve the economic problems. Research says that. Latter; Violence stems from our culture, not our belief. There are serious misconceptions stemming from our culture. Here's what men do, etc. Yes, there are things that come from nature. This definitely needs attention. We need to start by accepting that physically, the strength of a woman and a man is not the same. Because we think in terms of justice. I would like to call out to the government and opposition, those in the Parliament, who will produce a political solution; please approach the problem from the right point so that the problem is solved.
DAYTIME PROGRAMS SHOULD BE REMOVED
There are also many complaints about daytime programs. You said that acts of violence should not be made a spectacle. However, these daytime programs have a concern of being watched. They are almost out of the joint because it works. What would you like to say about this?
I believe in freedom of the press, but freedom does not mean 'limitlessness'. It is necessary to understand this very well. As Muslims, we have morals. Suppose the person is not a Muslim. After all, there is a professional ethic, right? There is a professional ethic that binds everyone, whether Muslim or not, non-Muslim Christian Jew or whatever your job as a human being. Not only morning generation programs, but also morning generation programs are completely spectacle programs. I think it should be removed completely rather than evaluated anymore. This does not mean that; As I have just stated, it does not mean that we should ignore the problems that exist in society or against women, but quite the opposite. Let's reveal the problems in the society in the direction of real journalism. It's not just the daytime generation, I think TV series are much more dangerous. Violence and harassment against women we see sequences where it is shown somehow. Then we ask; What is the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) doing? RTÜK also says; I just watch them too. It's my job to watch. It's your job to intervene there.
WE NEED TO FIX THE ECONOMY FIRST
While marriages are decreasing in Turkey, divorces are increasing. More than one factor is put forward for these two problems. However, no solution has been found so far to increase marriages and reduce divorces. How do you evaluate these two events? What is the solution to this?
First we need to fix the economy. Young people are dealing with unemployment and economic difficulties. The wedding expenses are very high. It takes several years to pay for the wedding, unless the family helps. Secondly, attributing too much sanctity to marriage can cause distress. If too much sanctity is attributed, those who do not see it as holy in any way will be seriously mistaken. We see marriage as the first place where unity, sense of communication or feeling of being human is experienced. Therefore if you constantly make them material through the media, civil society and politics, it backfires in this way. In other words, if you say "have three children" and do not set the minimum wage for five people to support the family, you cannot have a child. Or, if you tell young people to "get married" and do not provide resources to support their family after marriage, you cannot persuade that young person to get married.
WE CREATE HOPE FORESTS IN THREE CITIES
As the Women's Branch, you had the Hope Forest project. It found significant support throughout Turkey. Do you have a social responsibility project planned in the near future to draw attention to important issues in Turkey?
With the Hope Forest project, we have seen that our people are sensitive. Our nation is very sensitive, we understood it. There is no nation that tends towards betterment as fast as the Turkish nation or the Anatolian people do. I've been in Europe, I've had the chance to know many countries and nations, as well as African countries. I have no intend to do nationalism here, I would say, there is a matter of benevolence that comes from our origins. We've seen that too. Alhamdulillah, we will create three forests in the sapling campaign. Necmettin Erbakan Hope Forest in Ankara. We will have realized the Nermin Erbakan Hope Forest in Sivas and the Oğuzhan Asiltürk Hope Forest, which has recently passed away, in Malatya. In March, we have women's branches in 74 provinces. We are working on Women Adding Value to Life in 74 provinces. In society, women are referred to as either violence or abuse. This is our wound; Look, it's not an issue, it's a wound. We will talk about it. But at the same time, we need to show that women are successful, they are the leaven of society, and they are the builders of civilization. While we are talking about violence, abuse and murders against women, we also wanted to reveal this constructivist position of women in society. I hope we will realize the final program of this in May as the Headquarters. Except this, we have different projects that we are working on, we do not share them now, let it be a surprise.
MILLI GAZETE IS OUR BIGGEST CHANCE
What do you want to say as last words?
We would like to thank our Milli Gazete and its team. Frankly, it is a great chance for us to have a press where we can always make our voices heard correctly. Having a press that defends the right and defends the truth is Turkey's greatest chance, and ours as well, because we know as we speak; Our words will not be distorted, not taken with tweezers. The fact that it respects the ethics and morals of justice and journalism and that it reflects the society in this way with the news it writes, is a serious point of trust for us. We know that Milli Gazete is a reliable newspaper not only for us but for everyone in Turkey. May Allah make your way clear, we wish you all the best.