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Turkey鈥檚聽Deputy Prime Minister B眉lent Ar谋n莽 caused a social media firestorm when giving a speech commemorating the end of Ramadan, the month-long period of religious fasting and contemplation in Islam.

During his speech, the minister argued for a return to the principles of the Quran, objecting to anything from sex in TV shows to the importance of women talking to people face to face - instead of on phones . But he really landed in hot water by saying that women should not laugh in public.

Turkish women have responded with a viral online campaign, posting pictures of themselves laughing at the government official. They may be smiling in the pictures, but for them, this laughter is certainly no joke.

According to the English-language Hurriyet Daily News, the minister鈥檚 comments came as a part of the speech directed against what he sees as 鈥渕oral regression鈥� happening in Turkey.聽

In the speech, Ar谋n莽 described the ideal man and woman, saying 鈥淲here are our girls, who slightly blush, lower their heads and turn their eyes away when we look at their face, becoming the symbol of chastity?鈥�

He also said that women tend to 鈥渟pend hours on the phone to swap recipes" and go out driving unnecessarily. The last straw came with the comment that a woman should also not laugh publicly.

"She should not laugh loudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all times,鈥� he said, according to TheGuardian.

According to the Washington Post, Ar谋n莽 is a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (or AKP), which is a moderately conservative religious group that has been accused of attempting to do away with the secular principles on which Turkey was founded.聽

While the AKP does have roots in Islamic political thought, it does not call itself an Islamist political party, and objects to such portrayals in Western media.聽 In 2010, H眉seyin 脟elik, former minister for the party, said that the AKP is largely secular, according to the Hurriyet Daily News. "Yes, the AK Party is a conservative democratic party. The AK Party's conservatism is limited to moral and social issues."聽

Ar谋n莽鈥檚 remarks, whether condoned by the AKP or not, has sparked a viral campaign across Turkey. According to the BBC, hundreds of thousands of people have tweeted photos of women laughing with the tag 鈥�#kahkaha,鈥� the Turkish word for laughter. Other tags include "Resist Laughter" (#direnkahkaha) and "Resist Woman" (#direnkadin).

According to the BBC, one of the first people to tweet a picture of herself smiling was writer and political commentator Ece Temelkuran.

"It was an extremely outrageous and conservative statement," she said, 鈥淢y whole timeline was full of women laughing聽 鈥� which was extraordinary, and kind of beautiful."

Ar谋n莽 later defended himself, saying that his speech was 1.5 hours long and complained that 鈥渟ome people pick a section of [the speech] and criticize鈥� it, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.聽

However, he chose to stand by his words, arguing that what he was really against is 鈥渁rtificial鈥� laughter, not genuine laughter.

鈥淭here are some artists who now laugh artificially and send me their photos. Real laughs relieve a person, but these are artificial ones. Those who go for a vacation with their lovers while leaving their husbands behind and can鈥檛 wait to climb poles when they see one,鈥� Ar谋n莽聽said, probably referring to the wife of a Turkish soccer player who reportedly went on vacation with a pop singer and recently posted a photo of on Instagram with a dancing pole.

鈥淚 personally think the act of adultery shouldn鈥檛 be committed and I condemn it,鈥� said Ar谋n莽.

Many remained unimpressed by the minister鈥檚 defense of his words. The Twitter and Flickr campaign against him is still going strong, and has drawn some big names in Turkish politics, including the current Prime Minister鈥檚 top challenger in the polls, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, according to the Washington Post.聽

The Peoples鈥� Democratic Party (HDP) deputy parliamentary head Pervin Buldan, had this to tweet on the subject, according to the Hurriyet Daily News. "From now on, we will respond to all statements by Ar谋n莽 by laughing.鈥�