First Lady Erdoğan attends AK Party Women Branches’ Workshop “From the Roots to the Future”

First Lady Emine Erdoğan delivered the closing speech of the AK Party Women Branches’ workshop titled “From the Roots to the Future” at the party’s headquarters in Ankara.

Stressing the importance she places on the gathering enabled by the workshop, First Lady Erdoğan said: “We are not only the members of a party. We are also each other’s companions in a cause, a very strong and great family bound together shoulder to shoulder in joy and in sorrow.”

First Lady Erdoğan stated: “We set out on this sacred journey in 2001 to serve our nation, with the purest intentions and our love for the homeland. We have overcome countless obstacles and countless hardships together. Today, we are able to stand tall at a junction in this journey thanks to our determination, our faith and our perseverance. We cannot thank our Lord enough for this. I offer my most sincere gratitude to each and every one of our sisters who have given shoulder to this movement and have wholeheartedly embraced this cause since day one.”

Highlighting AK Party’s tradition of devotion as a symbol of the value the party attaches to experience and hard work, First Lady Erdoğan continued: “Our young cadres always follow the path of our founders. I know for sure that they are always benefiting from their heritage and experience, taking their dedication as well as their humble and dignified stance as a guide. That is so because AK Party is a movement that was born from among the nation, that walks hand in hand with the nation, and that derives its strength from the nation’s blessings.”

Citing several numbers regarding women in state echelons, First Lady Erdoğan went on to say: “For instance, the number of our women ambassadors has risen from 14 in 2002 to 80 today. The number of women academics has risen from some 26 thousand to around 86 thousand. The number of women judges has increased from 1,725 to 8,243. Today, we have reached the highest number of women MPs in the republican history. All these achievements are the product of an AK Party understanding that doesn’t regard social progress as separate from women’s status, and that considers women’s rights as a measure of civilization.”