CENTRAL NEWS
A columnist at the Hurriyet newspaper, a newspaper known for their closeness to the AKP, wrote today about the ‘bag debate’ after Recep Tayyip Erdogan was dragged for urging the exploited people of his country to burn their French goods while his wife, Emine Erdogan, continues to clutch French designer handbags. The writer, in an attempt to divert tensions towards Emine, claimed that her handbags were imitations.
Hande Fırat, the Hurriyet newspaper columnist, was dragged with the Erdogan family for lying about the First Lady’s use of imitation handbags. The columnist attempted to show the First Lady Emine Erdogan in a humanist light, claiming she doesn’t spend so much money on designer handbags, and that she prefers local goods. In her piece, Hande wrote:
“The First Lady Emine Erdogan never gives big money to bags. She takes care not to use original brand bags. In other words, bags are not bought for large numbers as it is being claimed. She mostly prefers local goods. Instead of the original, she takes the fake, imitations. Bags and accessories that are mostly recyclable materials. “
The writer’s attempts to divert the tensions away from Emine was contradicted by documents proving that the First Lady regularly spent hours shopping designer brands in European countries. In fact, Emine had made headlines back in 2015 when she disrupted traffic as black minivans belonging to Erdogan’s security entourage took over the district for about an hour.
Trams had come to a standstill and many drivers were forced to wait. Some customers were even denied entry to certain stores because the Turkish first lady was shopping inside the luxury stores on Louise Street in Brussels, Belgium.
Additionally, the use of imitation bags is illegal in Turkey, meaning that Turkey’s first lady would be a criminal if the contents of the article were correct.
According to the Industrial Property Law decision published in the Official Gazette in 2017, whoever produces goods or offers services, offers for sale or sells, imports or exports, purchases for commercial purposes, holds, transfers or infringes on someone else’s trademark right is to be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 to 3 years and judicial punishments of up to 20 thousand days.
A leader from an opposition party also criticised the hypocrisy of the terrorist AKP leadership by saying: “Mrs. Emine has a bag. Let her burn in the palace garden.”
Anti-France mobilization attempts by Erdogan
Erdogan called for a boycott of French goods after French President Emmanuel Macron expressed harsh views of Islamophobia. The French president became a target after defending the Charlie Hebdo magazine’s caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed, a drawing which was found to be offensive by many Muslim countries around the world in 2015 when it appeared. Last week, a teacher who presented the caricature during a lesson on human rights was beheaded by extremists, shining new attention on the topic.
Though Erdogan’s motives for launching the French boycott appear to be more than meets the eye, the boycott raised more anger against the terrorist leader than it benefited his plans to lead the Muslim world. The jihadist dictator urged the poor people of his country to burn their French goods, while his wife Emine continued to clutch onto her expensive designer handbags.
