Notary fined for demanding ‘stair fee’ from Turkish Paralympic athlete

İZMİR

A notary who forced a Turkish Paralympic athlete to pay an extra fee because the notary descended 25 steps to bring documents to the woman, who was unable to climb the stairs because she is confined to a wheelchair, has been fined 15,000 Turkish Liras as part of an administrative sanction, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 
  
The owner of the building was also fined 3,000 Turkish Liras for not providing a wheelchair ramp as part of disability regulations.   

The incident occurred at the 16th Notary in İzmir’s Şirinyer district.

The provincial directorate of the Family and Social Policies Ministry in İzmir said they started an investigation.  

Büşra Ün, who became the first Turkish tennis player to appear at the Paralympics, said this was not the first time she faced such discrimination. 

“I have experienced such an incident like this before,” Ün said on her Twitter account.
 
“So I went there with my friend. My friend climbed the stairs and completed the process. But I had to sign documents. So personnel from the notary’s office came down and demanded 17.74 Turkish Liras in extra fees. I was able to make myself heard because I am an athlete. But who knows how many people have experienced such incidents like this before but could not make themselves heard,” she said. 

“When people ask you what #disability is, you respond to them with ‘paying 17.74 Turkish Liras because I could not climb 25 steps,’” she said in a tweet.

Ün’s tweets sparked debate on social media, with a large number of people supporting her reaction.

Scores of people said they had experienced a similar situation before, prompting the Union of Notaries in Turkey to announce that they would launch proceedings against those responsible for mistreating Ün. 
  
Union of Notaries Chairman Yunus Tutar apologized to Ün on his official Twitter account, saying they would refund the fee demanded by the office.