İYİ Party leader Akşener lashes out at MHP over sexist campaign against her

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İYİ (Good) Party Chair Meral Akşener has criticized the ruling bloc over sexist remarks against her and the increasing male violence in the country.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which Akşener was also a member of before founding her party in 2017, launched a hashtag campaign against her on its official Twitter account last week.

The hashtag was "#FosforluMeral," in reference to a novel about a sex worker, Fosforlu Cevriye, which literally translates as "Cevriye the phosphorous."

After reactions by social media users, the MHP deleted the tweets with this hashtag.

MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli first called her "Meral the phosphorus" five years ago at the party's congress, Akşener said at her party's parliamentary group yesterday (March 10). "Two young delegates from Konya perceived this as 'prostitute,' which was exactly what was meant, and came to me crying ... To protect the reputation of Mr. Bahçeli ... I had to say that Cevriye the Phosphorus was not a prostitute but a tough woman."

"While I protected him, he told this to everyone for a year while laughing," she added.

Women's Day

Also speaking about Women's Day, Akşener remarked, "On March 8, we listened to men's heroic speeches as we do every year. We listened to how women-loving those who don't regard women as humans."

Addressing President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Akşener called for the full implementation of the İstanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.

"You say, 'We will fight until the day that even a single woman doesn't suffer from violence.' If you say so, you will implement the convention that you signed and take measures to protect women who suffered violence," she said. (DŞ/VK)