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A woman working as a secretary at Turkish daily Evrensel was attacked by a group of people who accused her of “wearing revealing clothes and supporting the July 15 failed coup attempt” on Aug. 2 in Istanbul. The attackers reportedly accused Hazal Ölmez, who was six months pregnant, of supporting the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which was behind the failed takeover.
“Why are you wearing revealing clothes? You are a coup supporter and a Gülenist,” the group reportedly yelled at Ölmez, as they also called for people nearby to join them in beating her.
“You won’t get dressed this way anymore, you will get dressed the way we want you to and you will obey us,” the group also said, according to the report.
Speaking about the incident, Ölmez said that she was walking to her home in Istanbul’s Kocamustafapaşa neighborhood when three people, two of whom were burqa-wearing women, started to attack her.
“I got out of work and I was going home on a road that I use every day. Someone suddenly pulled my hair from behind. When I turned around I saw a woman wearing a burqa and asked her the reason why she pulled my hair, but she started to attack me,” Ölmez told Evrensel, adding that she was called a “traitor” by the group.
“They called for others to attack me. They wanted to lynch me there,” she also said.
Saying that a man aged 26 or 27 showed up at the scene a couple of minutes later, Ölmez added that he threatened to attack other people living in the neighborhood.
“A couple of minutes later a man with a long beard came over and shouted, ‘There are four others in the neighborhood that we marked, their turn will come.’ Then he kicked my ankle,” she said.
The group continued to beat Ölmez after she fell to the ground, as other people standing nearby watched the incident and did not offer any help, according to the report.
“Who knows what you did, so they are attacking you,” the people nearby allegedly said when she asked for help. Ölmez said that she was saved by a 60-year-old woman.
Saying that she went to the doctor to get a report after the incident, Ölmez added that the doctor told her there wasn’t a reason to give her one.
“You can go to the police and file a complaint. We have nothing to do. Fortunately they didn’t realize that you were pregnant, your baby could’ve gotten hurt,” the doctor reportedly told her.
“The doctor with those statements accepted that I was beaten, but didn’t give me a report,” she added.
