Wife of Şişli mayor accuses predecessor of death threats

Gülden Aydın - ISTANBUL

The wife of Şişli’s mayor, who was elected from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in the March 30 elections in the central Istanbul district, has accused her husband’s predecessor, Mustafa Sarıgül, of issuing death threats against them.

Nazlı İnönü, the wife of Şişli Mayor Hayri İnönü, said they faced pressure for her husband to resign from his current post, adding that she was worried for her children. 

İnönü, who is an associate professor in Istanbul University’s Philosophy Department, said Sarıgül, who ran for the Istanbul mayoralty in the March election, had issued death threats against her sons and she had therefore not invited him to one of her sons' upcoming wedding.

“My sons live in the U.S. Two of them work there and one is studying. My husband had made some changes in the municipality last month. [Sarıgül] issued threats after the changes and told our sons that he had hired men from the mafia for $750,000. Upon that, my husband immediately went to the U.S. to tell them. [Sarıgül] also implied that he would have me kidnapped,” said İnönü.

She added that she had been planning to go to the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office to file a complaint against Sarıgül but her husband had stopped her. 

For his part, Sarıgül released a statement on Dec. 19 strongly denying İnönü’s claims.