Turkish Paralympic athlete decries notary’s extra ‘stair fee’

Banu Şen - İZMİR

A Turkish Paralympic athlete who became the first Turkish tennis player to appear at the Paralympic Games, was forced to pay an extra fee to a notary because a notary descended 25 steps to bring documents to the woman, who was unable to come upstairs because she is confined to a wheelchair.

“I have experienced such an incident like this before,” the athlete, Büşra Ün, said on her Twitter page. “So I went there with my friend. My friend climbed the stairs and completed the process. But I had to sign documents. So personnel from the notary’s office came down and demanded 17.74 Turkish Liras in extra fees. I made myself heard because I am a athlete. But who knows how many people have experienced such an incident like this before but could not make themselves heard.”

The incident occurred at the 16th Notary in İzmir’s Şirinyer district.

“When people ask you what #disability is, you respond to them with ‘paying 17.74 Turkish Liras because I could not climb 25 steps,’” she posted on Twitter.

Ün’s tweets sparked a debate on social media, with a large number of people supporting Ün’s reaction.

Scores of people said they had experienced a similar situation before, prompting the Union of Notaries in Turkey to announce that they would launch proceedings against those responsible for the treatment of Ün.
  
Union of Notaries Chairman Yunus Tutar apologized to Ün on his official Twitter account, saying they would refund the fee demanded by the office.