Adding to a recent series of harassment and abuse claims, a 17-year-old girl has complained about being sexually harassed by a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) district chairperson in Turkey’s Bursa province, while two administrative personnel of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) were accused of abuse and murder, reports said Friday.
According to the Sabah daily, two members of the management board of the AK Party in the Kemalpaşa district of western Izmir province – D.A.I., accused of sexual harassment, and N.B., accused of murder – were dismissed from the party. It is claimed that 70-year-old D.A.I. sexually abused his stepdaughter, whereas N.B. allegedly caused the death of his transsexual friend.
The AK Party’s Kemalpaşa head, Bülent Aksakal, said the party acted before the incident came to light in the press, stating that both of the accused were transferred to the disciplinary committee and were dismissed from the party.
On the other hand, the CHP was accused of covering up the sexual harassment of a minor in northwestern Bursa’s Orhangazi district, Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported.
The 17-year-old girl, identified by the initials S.G., who had been working as a volunteer in the party’s district office, claimed that the district chairperson, identified by the initials M.A., sexually harassed her through a series of messages.
“Do not call me older brother. I like you,” M.A. allegedly wrote to the girl as he sent her a series of messages containing emojis at night.
S.G.’s family immediately went to the party's headquarters to register a complaint. They had submitted a printout of M.A.’s messages as proof, and party executives reportedly told them that they would take action, but none has since been taken, according to the family.
M.A. previously came under fire for having an affair with a married woman.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday also touched upon the issue, saying that the main opposition, while accusing others, remained ignorant of the harassment and rape incidents within the CHP.
“There have been so many harassments and rape incidents, but the CHP remained silent,” Erdoğan said.
The CHP has been accused of covering up other sexual assault allegations after a district deputy chair was detained on suspicion of rape, with some members raising their voices against sexual assault among party members.
That scandal erupted after Maltepe district Deputy Chairperson Umut Karagöz was arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman in a washroom last month.
CHP lawmaker Barış Yarkadaş told the Hürriyet daily that he has received many similar reports about such assaults taking place in other districts.
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