Meral Argün, one of the residents of the Ayazıl district compound, was warned first by police officer SD and then by site manager AK when she entered the communal pool wearing a burkini, because it was prohibited.
A woman from Duzce’s Akcakoca district complained that the facility’s management did not allow her to enter the pool wearing a burkini. Police have taken action following the complaint https://t.co/MrkM7BKaqU pic.twitter.com/cX4PYYjoNc
— Anadolu Agency (@anadoluajansi) July 28, 2024
After being told she would be banned from using the pool if she wore a burkini, Argün filed a complaint with the Akçakoca district police station.
Two people were issued detention orders
A statement from the Düzce Governor stated that there is a need to educate the public about the images published on social media regarding the intervention of a person wearing a hijab swimsuit/burkini while entering a swimming pool.
The statement, which said the incident occurred at the scene in Ayazul area, noted:
“A female citizen filed a complaint against the site staff and management, and the decision was made by the site management that she could only enter the pool in a swimsuit or shorts, and that if she did not, the pool would be closed,” she said, wearing a burkini. Following the suspect’s statement on this matter, the prosecutor’s office also issued a detention decision and announced that an “investigation has been launched” into this discriminatory situation.
“We were not informed of this issue until now.”
Argün told AA correspondent that she bought a summer house from the site last week and was not informed by management about the decision to ban people from wearing burkinis in the swimming pool when she moved out.
Argun said she wanted to use the pool on the first day she visited the apartment, “I went in the pool too. An on-site official came and said we couldn’t go in wearing a burkini. We weren’t informed about this issue.” If we had been informed beforehand, maybe we would have thought twice about buying this place because we wear hijabs and we were brought up that way.” “We bought this place because we thought it would suit us,” he said.
Argyun claims that she began facing this discrimination from the day she bought her house, adding:
“They had my wife on the messaging group for the site. My wife wrote to the site management that I wear a hijab and that I would be using the pool in this manner. She also informed them of our previous decision, but our efforts were thwarted. A few days later, on a Saturday, as summer school was ending and we had gone to work with our kids, the same officer came and cautioned me again. When we reminded them that we had made a statement to them earlier, he said, ‘I told you I would close the pool if you didn’t follow the rules.'”
Argun said that after the on-site attendant left, the manager came and told him not to go in the pool, adding that he had recorded the conversation and that he left after being disturbed by the manager’s filming.
Argun said she was very sorry to have experienced this situation, adding, “This is not just my problem, it is something that all hijabis living in this country are experiencing. It was very sad for me to experience something like this in 2024,” she said.
Meral Argun’s husband, Muhammed Argun, also stressed that he would pursue the matter legally, saying, “This act is not in accordance with any morality or religion. I will never approve of it.”
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