Europe News

Emine Erdogan Praises Ottoman Harem

Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan has described the harem of the Ottoman era as an “educational establishment that prepared women for life,” reports say.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife was speaking at an official event on Ottoman sultans in Ankara, say Turkish TV stations.

Emine Erdogan’s comments came a day after the president said a woman was “above all a mother” in a speech to mark International Women’s Day.

Family members, servants and concubines all lived in the imperial harem.

The sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire had a harem at Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, which has been a museum since 1924.

The sultan spent his domestic life in the harem, where his wives lived, as well as female family members and concubines, who numbered into the hundreds. Male staff were eunuchs.

Emine Erdogan said the harem was a school for members of the Ottoman dynasty.

Traces left by harem women in the empire’s six centuries of history could be “an inspiration”, the first lady said, according to Turkish media.

Concubines kept in the harem did receive some training and were well fed. However, they were not free to leave the palace if they wanted to.

Some Turks were quick to criticize Emine Erdogan’s comments on social media.

“Receiving education in harem doesn’t make it a school. This is nonsense,” tweeted @GaziCaglar, saying there would have been about 400 concubines in the sultan’s harem.

“If the Ottoman harem was a scholarly institution then why were the men who worked there castrated?” asked @anlam75.

“Those who mention harem do not send their daughters to anything less than American universities,” tweeted @kizmonot, a reference to the fact that both the Erdogans’ daughters studied at Indiana University.

However, some – including pro-government journalist Ceren Kenar – pointed out that Emine Erdogan is correct to say that women were educated in the harem.

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

Spain: At Least 158 Killed In The Country’s Worst Flooding Disaster

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations. On October…

2 days ago

Russia Fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Surpassing Global GDP

Google has been fined two undecillion (a two followed by 36 zeroes) roubles by a…

2 days ago

Financing Your Home Remodel: 7 Tips for Success

Embarking on a home remodel is an exciting journey, promising enhanced comfort, increased property value,…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Serves Up McDonald’s Fries While Kamala Harris Celebrates 60th Birthday with Church Choir

The US presidential candidates continued to campaign across key swing states on October 20. Footage…

2 weeks ago

America PAC: Elon Musk Promises to Award $1M Each Day to Swing States Voters

Elon Musk has said he will give away $1 million a day to a registered…

2 weeks ago

Canada Expels 6 Indian Diplomats Amid Khalistan Row

India and Canada have decided to expel their top envoys along with other diplomats as…

3 weeks ago