Fifty shades of grey at Kabataş

MEHMET Y. YILMAZ myy@hurriyet.com.tr

Upon the news stories that the woman claimed to have been attacked in Kabataş did not actually experience anything of the like she described, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke like this: “You, which part [of your body] will you place the forensic reports?”

In front of his name is the title Prime Minister and look at the quality of the sentence he uttered!
Actually, it is easy to answer such questions. As a matter of fact, I was also a boarding student at a boys’ school and I could easily start with, “You wouldn’t call it that,” but I wouldn’t do it. Because, if I talk and write like the prime minister, my mother would get angry or at least she would call me “rude,” and my family would be embarrassed.

I was not going to write about the issue of the woman who was claimed to have been attacked at the Kabataş district of Istanbul, but the fact that a lie is trying to be drawn out this insistently, moreover, that this is trying to be done with rude expressions, has changed my mind.

This woman told what she had experienced to Elif Çakır from daily Star, right after the incident happened.

Let me sum it up: A group of 60 or 70 people, who were bare chested, wore black bands on their heads and gloves on their hands had attacked this woman, beat her, harassed her and moreover, peed on her. During the incident, her baby was there, sleeping in its stroller and that stroller was thrown into the air. An old man and his grandchild, who wanted to help her, were also beaten by the attackers, leaving the old man beaten within an inch of his life. 

First, it was said that there were city surveillance cameras (MOBESE) and the images were too sickening to be broadcasted. Then they said, “No, there was no MOBESE recording; the cameras were broken.”

Since then, we have learned the cameras were not broken or anything and the Istanbul police were able to examine the camera recordings. Thanks to them, they were able to appeal to dozens of people for their testimonies.

The latest images show the incident, as had been claimed, did not occur in Kabataş and the woman was actually fantasizing.

I will ask some questions that do not need to be placed at anywhere; just an answer would do: Where are those half-naked guys? Why is there nobody else who said they saw such oddly dressed people there? Where are the old man beaten up and his grandchild? Where are their medical records? Where are the “sickening” camera recordings? Isn’t it a miracle the baby was saved while the stroller was thrown into the air?

It is obvious this woman was not attacked that day there. What is the meaning of insisting on this lie?
Yes, we all know that a “lie” is one of the most important weapons of political Islam; there are millions of naïve Muslims ready to fall for these lies. But, this much of it is a shame.

A prosecutor may just as well sue all of them for “inciting hatred among people,” but where is that independent justice?

I have a suggestion for the family of the woman: Her story has the tones of “Fifty Shades of Grey.” I wonder if you should take her to a hodja for spiritual help. Maybe that would help her overcome the “boredom” or depression she is suffering from.

Mehmet Y. Yılmaz is a columnist for daily Hürriyet in which this abridged piece was published on Feb 17. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.