Groups critical of ‘Family Workshop’
THE Left Movement and the Queer Cyprus Association have criticised a “Family Workshop” held in the TRNC last week.
Left Movement gender equality secretary Semen Saygun said in a written statement that during the workshop, organised with the participation of “local institutions and organisations, along with experts from Turkey’s Family Ministry” and aimed at “reducing divorce rates and solving domestic problems”, the “institution of the family was imposed” onto participants.
Stating that people should “stand together against these impositions and raise their voices”, Ms Saygun criticised “women’s policies” in Turkey, noting that instead of “women’s policies, family development policies” were being discussed.
“The approach to women now is to imprison them in a family and to save the marriage no matter what happens,” she said. “We know this process, we see what is coming, and reject it already.”
Ms Saygun said that the “family” was discussed because it is “expected” that women will be “good wives and good mothers” in a family, noting that this means “obedience and maintaining the patriarchal order”.
Her statement continued: “Women’s lives are much more valuable than your family institution. You can’t shape us by accepting the heterosexual nuclear family as the norm.
“We do not accept any relationship and lifestyle as the only truth. We also do not accept the definition of family as a heterosexual, married couple.“We
won’t be imprisoned in unhappy marriages in the ideal family that you impose. If we’re unhappy, we won’t make do and we won’t try again. We won’t try to be the perfect wife or the perfect mother. We will defend women’s freedom. We will say that love is love. There is a life outside the family as well and we will protect it and our lives.”
Meanwhile the Queer Cyprus Association called for a police investigation into the workshop, claiming that it contained “hate speech” against LGBTI+ people.
A statement by the association said: “It is unacceptable that an institution like the Presidency organises an event that includes discourse against women and publications targeting LGBTI+ people and glorifying the heteronormative family structure. . . The committee that organised the event, especially the President, should make a statement about the mistakes made and apologise for the discriminatory discourse and publications.”