One step forward, two steps back

A terrorist plot threatening the lives of thousands, perhaps? No, these words were used by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he went into battle against co-ed student accommodations, using vocabulary usually reserved for national security issues. In fact, the minister of the interior, Muammer Güler, put just such a spin on the latest controversy, explaining that the government was "looking at the terrorist dimensions" of this issue, as mixed-gender housing is apparently fertile recruitment ground for illegal organizations.

The mind boggles.

Prime Minister Erdoğan, no stranger to controversy, has upped the ante with this latest attempt to impose his patriarchal mores on society. We've already had the debate on abortion and Caesarean sections, dire warnings about alcohol consumption, multiple speeches indicating the appropriate number of children per family -- no less than three, but preferably four or five -- and, thanks to Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Hüseyin Çelik, a TV presenter losing her job for showing too much cleavage.

Now Prime Minister Erdoğan wants to enter private homes and interfere with the lives of students, most of whom are over the age of 18 and are, therefore, adults allowed to make their own choices. He clearly sees himself not just as political leader, but as the conservative pater familias of the whole nation and the guardian of morality. The Constitution, however, guarantees the privacy of personal life. The European Union has already expressed concern at what is clearly a violation of individual rights.

Only recently, we were celebrating an important step forward with the lifting of the ban on wearing a headscarf in Parliament. It is evident, however, that the government has a selective approach to individual freedoms, severely constrained by its very patriarchal and religious outlook.

This time, Erdoğan may just have gone a bit too far and he seems to have made several prominent party members uncomfortable. Some attempted to do some damage control, only to be rebuffed by the prime minister himself, who took it a step further. Fatma Bostan Ünsal, a founding member of Erdoğan's AK Party, described the situation as "very dangerous."

Prime Minister Erdoğan relishes controversy. Some will argue that his turning the spotlight on co-ed housing was inspired by the Gezi protests and aimed at rallying the party's conservative base ahead of the election period. But whatever happens next, the prime minister's statements have set a new tone and they will have a social impact.

The speeches on the alleged immorality of student life will make it just that little bit harder for young girls from traditional backgrounds to convince their parents to send them away to university and it will make it easier for zealous conservative bureaucrats, like the provincial head of education in Trabzon province, who recently fretted about boys and girls using the same staircases in schools, to introduce coercive measures.

Since the prime minister directed his wrath at C-sections and abortion, doctors have, in several cases, called a husband or a father to let him know that his wife or daughter was pregnant, violating the rules of medical privacy. Now the authorities want neighbors to denounce young adults living in co-ed housing so that the police can call to inform their families.

With the burden of modesty and honor firmly on women's shoulders according to traditional perceptions, they will be most affected by this new climate. The prime minister is creating yet more obstacles for women's advancement at a time when Turkey is already among the countries with the worst gender gap. While the prime minister is intent on keeping adult students of opposite genders apart, we've heard no fiery speeches condemning the families illegally turning their underage daughters into child brides or, indeed, the imams blessing these illegal marriages. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that 91,000 girls under the age of 18 give birth every year in Turkey -- not because they live in co-ed student housing, but in most cases because they were married off too early and prevented from reaching their full potential, in blatant violation of this country's laws.