Turkey’s parliament lost more than a fifth of its female deputies in Sunday’s election, fuelling activists’ concerns about women’s rights as President Tayyip Erdogan strengthens his grip on power.

Women’s groups and opposition politicians have criticized Erdogan, a devout Muslim, for condemning abortion, calling birth control “treason”, and telling women they should have at least three children.

His AK Party won just under 50 percent of the vote, far exceeding the expectations even of party insiders and giving it a clear majority of around 317 seats in the 550-seat parliament.

But unofficial results showed only about 77 female lawmakers had been elected, compared with 97 in the previous vote in June, in which no party won an outright majority. That would give women some 14 percent of the seats, down from nearly 18 percent.