Supporters of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gather on November 17, 2013, during Erdoğan's visit to Bismil. (Mehmet Engin/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption]Speaking at a closed-door party meeting, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said that male and female university students should not live together in state dormitories or private housing. He suggested that regulations be drawn up to prevent mixed-sex cohabitation. Erdoğan’s remarks were made public by the Turkish daily Zaman, which ran parts of a transcript of the meeting. The issue has become the latest hot topic in Turkey as conservatives and secularists are at loggerheads once again.
Government spokespeople and close associates of the prime minister rushed to deny the statements. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç described the press reports as “false” and “ill-intentioned.” Other prominent supporters expressed their confusion over Erdoğan’s comments. “Even I cannot find a rational argument for this nonsense,” said one leading journalist who has long been a staunch supporter of the prime minister. To their surprise, Erdoğan rushed back to stand behind his words. “We will not allow girls and boys to live together in state-owned student residences,” he reiterated.
Funnily enough, Erdoğan’s latest cause was not only unknown to his advisors, but there had been little mention of it in the mainstream media, or anywhere else for that matter. Co-ed accommodation is unusual in broadly conservative Turkey, with even Erdoğan himself claiming that 75 percent of state university dormitories are single sex.
The fact that the prime minister opted to talk about such a non-issue instead of tackling the real problems Turkey currently faces, has sparked a serious debate about his motives.
Those who have said from the very beginning that Erdoğan has a secret agenda to impose a conservative way of life in Turkey felt vindicated. This latest move is just one of many in a series of measures intended to impose certain moral values on private and public life. “We want to raise pious youngsters,” Erdoğan pronounced last year. He declared abortion to be “murder” and called on women not to have caesarean sections. And his aversion to girls and boys existing near one another is not new. “No one should expect me to respect girl and boy students sitting on the same bench,” he once said.
Some argued that Erdoğan was intentionally creating an artificial debate in order to change the agenda and avoid discussions on more serious issues, including the reconciliation process with the Kurds. At the other end of the spectrum, others argue that Erdoğan is acting genuinely in his mission to clamp down on what he believes to be immoral behavior. “He is doing this because what we see before us is a person who: believes that his own idea of morality should be adopted by everyone . . . thinks he has the right to interfere in other people’s lives and thinks he is doing this for the happiness of the people . . . [and] believes that he is obliged to prevent the committing of sin,” wrote journalist Ahmet Hakan.
Many believe that Erdoğan deliberately wants to create a stir as part of his election strategy. The Gezi Park protests that turned into countrywide anti-government demonstrations are behind Erdoğan’s latest move, according to Ali Topuz, a journalist from Turkish daily Radikal. “Erdoğan found out during the Gezi protests that he can be wiped out via democratic means,” he explained, adding that Erdoğan will continue to polarize the electorate to consolidate his voters.
Turkey is heading towards a big election year in 2014. Local elections will take place next spring and presidential elections are scheduled for the summer. General elections are planned for 2015, yet no one is excluding the possibility that snap elections may take place next year. Erdoğan is expected to run for president, but he still wants to ensure he has a strong grip over his party if elected.
So far, Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party has capitalized on a good economic performance. Yet some economists forecast difficult times ahead, which may give Erdoğan more cause to emphasize conservative values in order to consolidate his voting base.
While there is little doubt that his controversial social positions comprise electoral tactics, it is important to underline the fact that his worldview is completely compatible with those tactics. In some ways, his sympathizers have got it right: he is genuine in what he says and committed to imposing his views, even if this means interfering in other people’s private lives.
All views expressed in this blog post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, The Majalla magazine.
