Turkey worries for its secular state

Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photograph courtesy of WEF

“Having girls and boys educated at the same schools in the name of a pro-West approach is unfortunately a mistake that has been made from the past up until now.”

These were the words of deputy parliamentary speaker Sadik Yakut speaking on Wednesday to a parliamentary gathering for Universal Children’s Day. He said that this situation is one that would be “corrected in the upcoming period” failing to elaborate on how or give a timeframe for when such a correction would take place.

This has given cause for concern to those who still believe in a secular Turkey. Earlier this month Prime Minister Erdogan revealed his intentions to do away with mixed-sex dorms at universities. He supported the comments made by his Interior Minister, Muammer Guler, on Nov 6th urging the state to monitor the housing arrangements of Turkey’s students.

Guler said that recent studies proved that terrorism and crime groups were targeting coed accommodation as a resource for their illegal activities. “In the research that we have made on terrorism, we have seen that terrorist organizations are using the relationships between male and female students to a considerable extent to obtain the support of high school and university youth.” He urged that legislation ought to be prepared to monitor student housing.

Prime Minister Erdogan agreed suggesting that new regulations could be drawn up to outlaw coed dormitories at state universities and off-campus housing shared by male and female students.  Erdogan said that he was only thinking of the parents. “Parents cry out, saying “Where is the state?” These steps are being taken in order to show that the state is there. As a conservative, democratic government, we need to intervene.”

In the week following there were reports of raids on student’s homes. Four days after Guler’s comments a police team raided a house where three female students were living together but had two male friends as guests in the western province of Manisa. The police imposed a fine of TL 88 on each student pointing to the 36th article of the Law on Misdemeanors which concerns “disturbing one’s surroundings.” Following questions the police told the students that there had been complaints about them because of noise levels. The students said they were just chatting and that they were not even listening to music.

News of similar police raids were met with outrage. One’s right to privacy is guaranteed by law in Turkey and the raids were condemned as an illegal intrusion into the student’s right to a private life. In a rather rapid backtrack Guler condemned the raids and issued a statement that no one, including state officials, could enter a house without a court ruling.

As for Erdogan’s suggestions on coed student accommodation, commentators highlighted the illegality of such proposals. Students are adults and it would be unconstitutional to target a specific population group in this manner.

Students I spoke to were relieved that the fury that had erupted seemed to deter the government from following this policy but Wednesday’s comments have reignited fears. Ending coeducation is seen by many as a step too far. Critics argued that the Erdogan’s government is deliberately trying to polarise public opinion ahead of next year’s elections.

Erdogan’s most recent controversial move was to make the sale of alcohol after 10pm illegal. It was hailed by his opposition as a clear attempt to enforce Islamic norms on the predominantly Muslim but staunchly secular country. It seems like this desire to ‘correct’ the ‘mistake’ of coeducation is the next step.

The government’s opponents are openly voicing their concerns that Turkey’s laws are sliding towards conservative Islam. The main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) accused Yakut of being backward minded. “It is complete nonsense to talk about these things in the 21st century” a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Another CHP lawmaker, Aylin Nazliaka pushed the sentiment further asking, “when will you make women sit behind curtains?”

Coeducation has been part of Turkey’s constitution since the 19th century. It became legally “essential” after the adoption of the Law of the Unification of Education in 1924. However Erdogan no longer believes that this is what the Turkish people want, he said that his party was committed to protecting the culture, beliefs and values of Turkish society. “We don’t impose values on society. We preserve values, and we oppose attempts to impose other values.” He said his government would never give up its conservative identity just because some groups are unhappy with it.