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Does AKP’s 'silent revolution' silence women?

The Turkish Justice and Development Party's “silent revolution” guarantees women’s rights as long as they do not clash with Islamic ideals.
University students shout anti-government slogans during a protest against Turkey's High Education Board in Istanbul November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTX152F9

Did you know there are legitimate and illegitimate lifestyles? That is what Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a Finnish reporter in Helsinki on Nov. 6. After suggesting the reporter was on a special mission to offend him, Erdogan went on to say that during his 16 years in politics, he has “never intervened in personal lifestyle choices.” Erdogan added that whatever the laws say, that is his duty to enforce.

Considering that on his way to Helsinki, Erdogan had enlightened us all on how he instructed the governors to look into the morality of “coed habitation” in private flats by female and male students, we cannot help but question how the separation of powers is affected by the Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s self-coined “silent revolution.”

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