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Erdogan stirs controversy on women in university housing

Erdogan risks losing loyal supporters with another divisive debate about the role of the state in people’s lives.
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) - RTX152F8

He did it again. In a move bound to intensify the debate on the growing polarization at home, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan once more stands as the architect of a fresh controversy, stirring fear and anger among the secular, urban parts of the country, also gambling for possible divisions within the conservative majority. 

It was the daily Zaman that broke the story. At a closed party meeting near Ankara over the weekend, Erdogan, the paper reported, directed a harsh critique on mixed-gender university student cohabitation in cities.

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