Turkey’s deputy prime minister has provoked outrage by declaring that women should not laugh in public, and berating them for spending too much time on their phones.
Hundreds of Turkish women posted pictures of themselves on social media laughing in response to comments by Bulent Arinc, a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party, which is rooted in Islam.
Speaking at a celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan, he bemoaned a decline in modern morals, and listed what he said were qualities of feminine “chastity”.
“A man should be moral but women should be moral as well, they should know what is decent and what is not decent . . . She should not laugh in public. She