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Erdogan's 'morality police' assume duty

After the Turkish prime minister expressed his support for gender-segregated living on college campuses, concerns about domestic privacy were mounting.
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses reporters during a news conference at the Government Banquet Hall in Helsinki, November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva (FINLAND - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. FINLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN FINLAND - RTX152FG
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It all started with the leak of remarks made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a closed meeting over the weekend. According to media reports, Erdogan said university students — boys and girls — were sharing flats in the western province of Denizli due to a shortage of dorms, and that this was unacceptable. “Students, boys and girls, are living together in the same homes because the dorms are insufficient. This is incompatible with our conservative democrat nature. I’ve seen this in Denizli. I’ve instructed the governor. Whatever is necessary will be done,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

Government spokesmen, however, were quick to deny the alleged remarks. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and Erdogan’s chief adviser Yalcin Akdogan both dismissed the reports as fabrications and said that Erdogan had actually referred to dorms and “apart” accommodations housing students.

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