Police detain two women in ?zmir, hours after Prime Minister Erdo?an complained of an "ugly" gesture directed at him before his election campaign rally.
Two women who allegedly did a hand gesture to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in the western city ?zmir were detained Mar. 16, daily Hürriyet learned.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, who stepped up his fiery rhetoric against his political opponents at his election campaign rally in ?zmir, mentioned an incident that he witnessed after he arrived in the city with a helicopter today. Erdo?an said that while his motorcade was driving him to Gündo?du Square for the rally, a bystander did a hand gesture at him.

"While I was coming here today, a woman in company of a man, presumably her husband, did such an ugly gesture that reflects what (main opposition Republican People's Party) CHP is. The prime minister of the country is passing by and she's doing that gesture with her hands and arms," Erdo?an said. He continued: "You're a lady, a woman... How come you do such a gesture? This is the CHP mentality. I could understand if it was a man, although he also shouldn't do it, but I cannot comprehend how a woman does it."

Soon after Erdo?an's comments, two women were identified and detained, before being transferred to the police department to testify about the incident. According to the Turkish law, they can receive prison sentences for "insulting the statesmen and public officials."

Ethem Co?kuner, a surgeon in the Black Sea town Trabzon, had received a suspended 10-month prison sentence in 2012 for insulting Erdo?an during a heated debate with an employee at his hospital.

By Hurriyet Daily News

 

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