An İYİ Party district chair in İstanbul accused of psychological violence against a woman

While opposition İYİ Party İstanbul Bağcılar Chair Karabal faces allegations of violence against a woman from the party, his son attacked the ones who stood in solidarity with her. One person was hospitalized for a month due to the blows he had received.

İstanbul

"Woman; resist" (Credit: csgorselarsiv.org)

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Opposition İYİ Party İstanbul Bağcılar District Chair Sururi Karabal allegedly inflicted psychological violence on a woman who resigned from the party, Pınar Gayıp from the ETHA has reported.

According to the news reported by the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), Sururi Karabal's son also attacked the ones who stood in solidarity with the woman, saying that the Kurdish woman from Mardin was "an agent of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who infiltrated into the İYİ Party, a terrorist, a Kurd and a woman having sexual intercourse with men for money."

'I resigned for my children'

Ayşe* (whose name is changed for reasons of security) says, "I sweeped the stairs or went to house cleaning, but I didn't let my children starve", recounting what she went through in following words:

"I thought that they would give me direction. I was elected the Women's Branch Chair of the Yıldıztepe Neighborhood. I worked so hard for them, I recruited members. I constantly worked for a year. But my children were small; I couldn't take care of them. That is why I resigned."

According to Ayşe, she was called from the İYİ Party after she had quitted the women's organization:

"Everytime they called me, I told them that I wanted to take care of my children. But then I heard that Sururi Karabal was speaking ill of me.

"I am Kurdish, I am from Mardin. When people asked why I had quitted, he apparently said, 'She has turned out to be an HDP agent, she joined our ranks. She is Kurdish, she is a terrorist.' Is such a thing even possible? Those who knew me objected to these remarks. This time, they rumored that the person who defended me and I were in a relationship."

İYİ Party's Karabal allegedly said that Ayşe was "having sexual intercourse with men for money" and "a terrorist from the HDP."

The woman took legal action

In the face of these slanders, Ayşe filed a lawsuit. At the hearing, Sururi Karabal said that Ayşe and the ones who witnessed the incidents asked him for a job at the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and they set up a plot against him as he did not pull the strings for them. However, the court has found İYİ Party's Karabal guilty.

Afterwards, the team of Karabal has allegedly continued with their attacks against Ayşe and the ones who supported her. Gökhan Karabal, the son of Sururi Karabal, battered Can* (whose name is changed for reasons of security), who bore witness for Ayşe. He was hospitalized for a month due to the blows that he had received. (EMK/SD)