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Taliban's ban on women at university against Islam: FM Çavuşoğlu

22 December 2022 12:36 (UTC +04:00)

"The Taliban's decision to ban women from universities in Afghanistan has no basis in Islam," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday, APA reports citing DailySabah.

"Their decision is a source of serious concern," Cavusoglu added during a joint news conference with his Yemeni counterpart in the capital Ankara, adding that Türkiye rejects this decision.

"This ban is neither Islamic nor humanistic. Islam encourages education," he asserted.

Cavusoglu reiterated that Türkiye has, since the beginning, defended engaging with the Taliban without officially recognizing the group for the sake of stability while supporting education in Afghanistan. "We asked them to be inclusive. On the other side, we conveyed to them (Taliban) our thoughts on women's rights and girls' education."

Saying that there are around 1 million women eligible for university education, Cavusoglu continued: "What kind of harm could women's education have for humanity or for Afghanistan? What kind of benefit does such a decision carry?"

A day earlier, the Turkish foreign ministry also emphasized that education is a fundamental human right that all should benefit from without discrimination on the basis of equality, and no one should be deprived of it.

In a written statement, the ministry called on Afghan authorities to review the decision and take necessary steps about it.

“The Taliban administration made a decision banning female students from entering universities in Afghanistan. This is a decision that goes against the spirit of Islam,” echoed Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin on Wednesday.

The Taliban regime's closure of universities for women also sparked shock and anger in Afghanistan, where many were trying to process how their lives had been upended.

The Taliban on Tuesday banned women from all universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect, the latest in a series of moves by the group since taking power in 2021 to massively restrict women's rights and exclude women and girls from public life.