Istanbul municipality worker suspended after calling wives, daughters of naysayers ‘halal’ as ‘spoils of war’

Dinçer Gökçe - ISTANBUL

An employee with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality was suspended from duty on April 13 after sharing a post on social media saying that the wives and daughters of naysayers in the charter referendum were “halal” for “yes” voters as “spoils of war.”

Ömer A., who works in the Vegetable Market Directorate, shared the controversial post on his Facebook account, informing “yes” voters that women from the “no” side could be claimed by them as “spoils of war” in the event of victory in the April 16 referendum. 

“Dear friends, CHP [Republican People’s Party] is doing its best on the issue [referendum] by overtly declaring war. They have displayed the aggression that they began in parliament toward yea-sayers with all their actions and rhetoric. The wives and daughters of those people are halal for the ‘yes’ voters as spoils of war when we win the battle on April 17,” the post read.

The municipality later suspended Ömer A. from his duty and launched an administrative investigation.