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ANKARA, Turkey – Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday staged the largest protestyet against plans by Turkey's Islamic-rooted government to curbabortion, which critics say will amount to a virtual ban. Around 3,000 women — their ages ranging from 20 to 60 yearsold — gathered at a square in Istanbul's Kadikoy district.Some carried banners that read "my body, my choice" and shoutedanti-government slogans. Many of the women were accompanied by husbands and boyfriends. Oneyoung protester — her left fist clenched aloft —carried a placard that read "State, take your hands off my body,"while a man waved a slogan reading "My darling's body, my darling'schoice." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called abortion "murder,"and his government is reportedly working on legislation to ban theoperation after 4 weeks from conception, except in emergencies. Fusun Sirkeci, a London-based obstetrician and gynecologist, saidin an email Saturday that most women don't learn they are pregnantuntil after 4 weeks and it is also difficult to establish theplacement of the pregnancy sac during that period. Abortion is presently legal in Turkey up to 10 weeks fromconception. "They say it is my body, my choice. Feminists say this," Erdogansaid Saturday during a rally in the country's southeast. "No onehas the right to abort a fetus in a body." Analysts say Erdogan is pursuing a delicate strategy of beefing upTurkey's regional power with a large population, while trying tobalance the country's demographics in the face of a high birth rateamong the country's Kurds, a source of concern for Turkey since itis engaged in a bitter fight against Kurdish rebels who wantautonomy in the largely Kurdish southeast. Remarks by members of Erdogan's ruling Justice and DevelopmentParty, however, have also revealed deep-rooted moral and religiousconcerns. Health Minister Recep Akdag caused an outcry Thursday when he toldreporters that if necessary the government would even look afterthe babies of "rape victims." Facing criticism, he said Saturdaythat he did not mean rape victims can never have an abortion. Deniz Ulke Aribogan, a professor of international relations atIstanbul's Bilgi University, wrote in Aksam newspaper Friday thatthe government was seeking to use abortion to balance the Kurds'high birth rate, since "ethnic reproduction is used by someorganizations as a political tool" — an apparent reference tothe rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, that is fighting forautonomy, and a pro-Kurdish political party also demanding thesame. "The problem is the rapid rise of population in eastern regions,while it has almost came to a standstill in western regions,"Aribogan wrote, adding that the decision had been taken forpolitical reasons, rather than out of moral or religious concern. The largely Kurdish southeast has the highest birth rate in Turkeywith 27.3 births in every 1,000, compared to 11,4 births in thenorthwest, according to the latest available figures in 2010 by theTurkish Statistical Institute. More than 25 percent of Turkey'snearly 75 million population is under the age of 14, according to aDecember survey. Tino Sanandaji, a post-doctoral fellow at Chicago University whoresearches demographic change and its link to policy, said in anemail Saturday that in the long run the higher Kurdish growth rateis certain to have social and political implications, although theprocess is "quite slow" for now. "If it continues for four to five decades, however, the balance ofpower could start shifting, which is what seems to concern Turkishnationalists," he said. Sirkeci warned in her email of the dangers of a virtual ban sayingit will force "some women to terminate themselves which couldpotentially be fatal or disabling." Sirkeci said any ban would also create an illegal market forabortions, and have a huge psychological impact on women. "I feel the danger is very obvious," she said. I am an expert from smart-rfid-tag.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China RFID Windshield Tag , RFID Wristbands Manufacturer, UHF Metal Tag,and more.
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