Probe launched after police beat women asking for help on harassment in Turkey’s İzmir

İZMİR

An investigation has been launched into two police officers in the Aegean province of İzmir following the emergence of security camera footage of one of them beating two women, after the women asked for help upon being subject to sexual harassment.

“As soon as we were informed about the incident, we started an investigation into our staff. The police department is an organization that attaches importance to relations with the people. If our staff is at fault, legal sanctions will be implemented. Every aspect of this incident is being investigated. The investigation was started right away,” İzmir Police Commissioner Hüseyin Aşkın said on Aug. 12. 

In addition, an investigation has been also launched to find the two men on motorbikes who the women said had sexually harassed them. 

The incident occurred early on Aug. 10 when Derya Kılıç, 19, and Seray Gürer, 22, were “touched” by two unidentified men on their motorbikes, according to their testimonies. The women then asked for help from two police officers in the street. 

Security footage then shows one of the police officers starting to beat one of the women. 

In her later testimony filing a complaint against the police, Kılıç reportedly said the police officer who hit her tried to “justify” their harassment by saying they were “dressed inappropriately.”  

“We wanted help from them because we could not see the license plates of the motorbikes that harassed us. But one of the police officers said the harassers were right because we were ‘dressed inappropriately,’” she said.