After attending a meeting of the Women’s Council of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Rabia Öz, a 21-year-old employee of the Nish Caria Hotel in the south-western province of Muğla, was recently sacked from her job. The dismissal came after she shared a photo from the meeting on social media.
The hotel owner, Ali Mürşit Yağmurlu, justified the dismissal by saying: “I am Turkish and I will not shelter anyone who is against my state”.
Rabia Öz had worked at the hotel for about a month and attended the pro-Kurdish HDP meeting on 23 August. After sharing a photo from the event, she was targeted by a floor manager who labelled her a “terrorist”, leading to harassment at the workplace. Öz was eventually dismissed from her job after the floor manager’s report to the hotel owner.
Speaking to the Mezopotamya Agency, Öz said, “I was targeted for days and called a ‘terrorist’ just because I attended the HDP meeting. She added: “The employer sent me a message saying ‘I will not shelter anyone who stands against the state’ and fired me.
The hotel owner is also the president of the Dalyan Hotels Association, which adds another layer to the incident. Pointing out the injustice of the situation, Öz said, “It is already difficult to make a living as a woman, and they fired me just because of my political views. Together we will change this system”.
In response, Yağmurlu claimed that Öz was sacked for “not maintaining work discipline”, a statement that contradicts the reasons he initially gave for her dismissal.
