Divorce ‘not a problem, part of normal process’

DIVORCE should not been seen as a “problem” but part of a “normal process”, a lawyer who took part in a “Family Workshop” has said.

The comments were made by Cyprus Turkish Bar Association Human Rights Committee member Aslı Murat, who took to social

media to counter some of the points made during the event.

In her post, Ms Murat said that she and other members of her committee had attended the workshop, confirming that social workers, academics, doctors, non-governmental activists, and police officers who work in the unit combating violence against women were also present.

She confirmed that in the speeches her committee made during the workshop, a certain number of points had been made that ran against the general narrative of the workshop.

Those points included that “the family does not only consist of male and female (heterosexual) couples and children, but also consists of same-sex partnerships, single-parent families, and unmarried couples living together”, and that, contrary to what First Lady Sibel Tatar had said, divorce “is not a problem, but a normal process”, and that the main purpose of society should not be “the protection of the family, but the empowerment of individuals in it (empowering women economically and socially, eliminating institutional and legal deficiencies in order to protect children)”.

Ms Murat also said that the “Department of Gender Equality” should get up and running “without wasting any more time”, and that “existing laws should be actively implemented”. She also called for the strengthening and greater funding of social services.