The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) issued a disciplinary warning to Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan and Fethiye District Mayor Alim Karaca for offensive remarks against a woman wearing a headscarf and using profane language, respectively, on Monday.
The disciplinary commission of the party warned the two mayors in a meeting held on Monday, a statement by the party said.
Özcan, who came under fire for introducing controversial regulations against foreigners in the city, had previously said in an interview that a woman wearing a headscarf had sought help from him.
"She told me that she could not conceive and asked for help. In response, I asked her, 'ma’am, how can I help you?'" Özcan had said in the interview. People on social media quickly condemned the mayor for exploiting the woman’s cries for help and twisting them in a denigrating manner.
Meanwhile, Karaca swore against a man named Serkan Yılmaz who criticized the city’s football team for mismanagement. He swore a total of 68 times over the course of a 10-minute call with the man, according to leaked records of the call.
Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan has been under fire over his xenophobic remarks since becoming mayor in 2019, including from members of his party.
A court in the northwestern Turkish city of Bolu recently overturned a controversial city council vote that aimed to charge a tenfold fee to the water bills of "foreigners" – in reference to refugees from neighboring Syria – and fees for performing marriage ceremonies.
The mayor said he was doing this so that “foreigners” would leave. “They overstayed their welcome. If I had the authority, I would deploy municipality officials to throw them out by force,” he said, recalling that he had allocated free buses for refugees when Turkey briefly opened its borders to Europe for them.
Özcan was also heavily criticized on social media for being "populist" and "fascist," with some even calling for a racial discrimination complaint to be filed against him.
