"let Them Cry Out For Miniskirts" President Erdoğan Slams Critics

- Miniskirts have once again become cannon fodder in Turkey’s culture war, with President Tayyip Erdoğan personally diving into the issue during a speech on Feb. 25.

“Let them cry out for low-cut [tops] and miniskirts,” Erdoğan said during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dormitories owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV), vowing to “raise generations loyal to their beliefs and history.”

The president’s son, Bilal Erdoğan, is among the board members of TÜRGEV, a charity nongovernmental organization.

On Feb. 21, a group of men organized a protest in Istanbul, wearing miniskirts, to demonstrate against patriarchy and in memory of slain 20-year-old student Özgecan Aslan.

The burned body of Aslan was discovered on Feb. 13 in a riverbed in the southern Turkish province of Mersin, triggering a public debate in which a women’s supposedly “provocative” attire has been cited as a reason for sexual assault and harassment by some conservative voices.

While repeating that the murder of Aslan was “total savagery” on Feb. 25, Erdoğan kept up with his uncompromising tone, criticizing not only the secular opposition, but also the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, his ally-turned-nemesis.

“If this structure [Gülenists within the state bureaucracy] could have succeeded, [all opposition parties] would have been its hostages,” Erdoğan said, reiterating that Gülen-linked prosecutors and police officials attempted to stage a “coup” through the corruption investigations launched in December 2013.

Since then, the government reshuffled hundreds of public servants in a bid to curb Gülenists’ influence in the bureaucracy, while launching espionage and illegal wiretapping probes into several high-ranking officials. Gülen himself is being sought with two arrest warrants, with the latest one issued on Feb. 24.

TÜRGEV and Bilal Erdoğan were among the targets of the widespread investigations in December 2013.

Celal Kara, the prosecutor in charge of the initial investigation, recently admitted that he was planning to name Erdoğan as the prime suspect of the alleged graft scheme. Another Turkish prosecutor then summoned daily Cumhuriyet’s editor-in-chief, Can Dündar, over his remarks in the interview conducted with Kara that allegedly “insulted” Erdoğan.

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1 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

2 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

3 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

4 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

5 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

6 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

7 - President Tayyip Erdoğan delivers a speech during a ceremony in Ankara for the inauguration of dorms owned by the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV).

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