Turkey's Erdogan slams birth control: One or two children insufficient to make nation stronger

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has labelled efforts to promote birth control as "treason" warning against a whole generation drying up.

Addressing the audience at one of his close allies, Mustafa Kefeli's son's wedding in Istanbul on Sunday (21 December), Erdogan said using birth control is a betrayal of Turkey's ambitions.

Speaking to the bride and groom, Erdogan said: "One or two (children) is not enough. To make our nation stronger, we need a more dynamic and younger population. We need this to take Turkey above the level of modern civilisations.

"In this country, they (opponents) have been engaged in the treason of birth control for years and sought to dry up our generation. Lineage is very important both economically and spiritually. I have faith in you."

Erdogan further noted, reported France24 News: "Marriage is a long journey. There are good days and bad days. Good days become more frequent as we share them and bad days finally bring happiness if we are patient.

"One (child) means loneliness, two means rivalry, three means balance and four means abundance. And God takes care of the rest."

Erdogan has long faced criticism for imposing strict Islamic values in Turkey and angered feminist groups after pouring on his harsh views on women.

He is often cited as saying women are not equal to men, and has made several proposals to limit abortion rights, the morning-after pill and Caesarian sections in Turkey.

Opposition lawmaker Aylin Nazliaka said in a written statement: "Erdogan has become the president but he continues to act like a guardian. Would he talk so blatantly about the female body if he was capable of giving birth to a child?"

Meanwhile Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu passed another judgment over the weekend saying pregnant women do not have the right to choose the method of delivery.

"It is the duty of the midwives and the doctors to prepare them for the birth. The patients cannot say 'I want a Caesarean'. They don't have such a right. The doctors' job is to fulfil their medical responsibilities not to follow the patients' demands. Doctors must give the medical treatment that the patients have a right to. The C-section is not one of those rights," said Muezzinoglu.