Sema Ramazanoglu, former Minister of Family and Social Policy, and a Deputy of the Denizli Province, Turkey was invited to Paterson, New Jersey, by members of Turkish AKP (Justice and Development Party-Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi in Turkish) to give a speech on March 8, 2017 for the World Women’s Day. Even though, the focus of the speech was supposed to be the women’s rights in general, it turned into political campaign for the referendum in Turkey, where President Erdogan seeks to consolidate his power as the ultimate leader of his country.
According to a news report appeared at Voice of America in Turkish, written by Can Kamiloglu last week, she was protested by a group of people in a meeting she attended as the keynote speaker.
Two women in the hall criticized Ramazanoglu for being insufficient about the infant rapes incidents detected in the Ensar Foundation in Turkey -supported by AKP Government- and for not struggling in this matter as much as she did against headscarf ban.
According to news report, the two women protesters and one man were tried to be taken out of the hall while another group in the hall interfered against the protesters, first orally, and then physically.
‘The protesters were punched, kicked and then were taken out of the hall. Paterson police stepped in. Three people who protested former Minister were badly beaten. A number of good sensed people intervened and saved the protesters from the hands of the attackers.’
Some eye witnesses, according to the ‘Voice of America’ were alarmed to see that at the end of the incident, nobody was arrested and no legal action was carried out for the attackers, and said “Protesters might have been lynched by the attackers. Potential larger incidents were prevented by the people of good sense.”
It received a huge reaction when nobody was detained by police after the incident. Some eye witnesses from the hall claimed that the police arrests were prevented by Derya Taskin, the Turkish Deputy Mayor of Paterson who has close ties with the Turkish AKP Government.
It is claimed that Taskin, who had been once a nominee for the deputy elections for President Erdogan’s AK Party, used her influence over the police and prevented the arrests.
Deniz Lohja, 47, American born, one of the women who was attacked, in her statement according to the news report, determined herself as a patriot Kemalist, who is devoted to the Republican values of Turkey. She said that she has no ties to any organization.
Lohja said “I am a citizen of Republic of Turkey. In case any group, any organization tries to knock Turkish Republic down, I am against them. I participated in the anti- PKK and anti Fethullah Gulen meetings, too. I stood against AK Party, too. I will always protect Republic of Turkey, as founded by Ataturk. Shall no one mention our names with the traitor organizations.”
Mentioning that she was badly beaten, Lohja said that she took a medical report, and that she’ll follow her legal rights in order the attackers to be arrested.
“I went there just in order to ask and tell Ms. Sema (Ramazanoglu) a couple of questions. We were three people there. Why would we enter among such a crowd and endanger ourselves? We would only ask questions; were never expecting such an attack. Our aim was not to provoke anyone. My aim was just to be the voice of those raped infants. They muted these children in Turkey, put their hopes out. I understand this feeling very well as a mother. I am not a mother who just says ‘Shall my children be good, so I don’t care what happens to other kids.’ I think about the other children as well. The future of our republic is in children’s hands. If we cannot protect our children, the future of our Republic is in danger.” Said Lohja adding that she wasn’t at the activity for provocative means.
“I didn’t like it that she was made to speak on International Women’s Day. How come one who cannot defend children’s rights may defend women’s rights? She is the last person to defend women’s rights. I displayed my reaction as a democratic right. I had many punches all around my body, but there’s peace in me. I know really well for what purpose I went there. I went there to be the voice of the silence of our infants who were raped. The speech of Sema Ramazanoglu, who, about the rapes in Ensar Foundation, said ‘Once it is not important,’ made me horrified. She mustn’t have been there; she is the last one to be there. One who cannot defend children’s rights cannot defend women’s rights.” Said Ms. Lohja, adding that it was unacceptable that the former Minister Ramazanoglu’s defending women’s rights.
Claiming that the Women’s Day activity was turned into a ‘Yes’ campaign for the forthcoming elections in Turkey, Lohja said “Ms. Sema (Ramazanoglu), in her speech, made politics for ‘Yes’ votes. There we didn’t have anything to do with ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Instead of defending women’s rights, whomever stood there, spoke about politics. It is their natural right to defend the rights of head scarfed women. So, why haven’t you defended the rights of the infants, who were raped in the Ensar Foundation? I am a mother with two children. The attendees had come with their children. I ask them ‘You are mothers, too. Haven’t you felt any pain for those kids? No one protected those children there. Instead, they attacked on us. We were rolled down from the staircase. They punched and pushed us out. We heard words of insult. Once I noticed five or six people were on me. They stroke, hit my head and pulled my hair. I had hits all around my body. Some people tried to intervene. They warned saying ‘Don’t do this, don’t hit!’”
Lohja critisized Derya Taskin, Deputy Mayor of Paterson, who was present in the hall, for not interfering with the incident on time.
“Ms. Derya (Taskin) came with the police. There I said to Ms. Derya ‘You were there, and allowed those people to attack on us.’ ‘You could stop those who attacked on us by your one word. All are people that you know,’ I said. ‘You let all these happen,’ I said. Reports were kept. We just walked out. Ms. Derya didn’t help us at all. ‘I’ll check what happened first’ she said. And I told her ‘You were in, and was sitting at the table.’ She saw everything,” Lohja said.
Mentioning that she’d start legal action against the people who attacked on them, Lohja said “Police kept their reports. We received many hits. I can recognize some among those who hit me. I don’t know their identities. Certainly very soon we’ll know who they are. We’ll search for our legal rights after this attack.”
“I was invited to this activity as a guest, for being the Deputy Mayor of Paterson. And sat in the front table as the host. I was in the front part of the hall when the incident began. So I don’t know how things grew up during discussion. Suddenly everybody went out. I couldn’t fully realize what went on. So, I walked out, too. I saw a gentleman; he was in blood. Discussion was going on outside. I tried to sooth people. I called police for the incident not to grow larger. Five police cars came together. I asked police to keep record. I tried to calm the women down who were attacked. I proposed to call ambulance and take them to hospital. I asked ‘Is there anything I may do for you?’ But as they said ‘You are not our addressee,’ so I left the venue. It is me who called the police to keep the report. People are acceding the dose of critics.” Taskin says according to news report.
Tulga Tekman, Vice Chairman, Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA/TADF), expressed the incidents in that eventful night that he witnessed: “Celebration of March 8, International Women’s Day suddenly turned into a political activity. Turned into a campaign on the referendum, and elections, and an AK Party advertisement. We were sitting in the rear part. A handful of audience came from outside. One among them asked a question about Ensar Foundation in Turkey and infant rapes. The girl who asked the question was attacked on. Was carried downstairs literally in hands. Her accompanies were hit while being taken out. They were stepped on and kicked. We went down and saved those people. We said ‘Go now.’ Police came. Incident went on and on. All were nothing but disgrace. It’s not acceptable to extend hands to women to beat them.”
Faruk Acar, one of the Turkish American Community leaders in Paterson, says that he watched the videos of the incident adding that there wasn’t any provocation in the questions addressed to the former Turkish Minister: ‘According to me it was a reaction of the people who might have felt frustrated to a politician about the infant rapes in Turkey. Ms. Ramazanoglu was a minister at the time and she was supposed to protect the rights of the children and the families but not the Foundation where these nefarious crimes were committed. When she undermined these massive incidents saying ‘not a big deal for once,’ she deeply hurt broad segments of Turkish society.
Besides her position at Paterson Municipality, Derya Taskin currently is the President of the Turkish Institute for Progress (TIP) a think-tank organization based in Washington which has close ties to AKP Government. Prior to her leadership of TIP, she spent time working with the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations and the Turkish Grand National Assembly’s Turkish Mission to the European Union. She also has been a nominee for a deputy from AKP in Turkish parliamentary elections.
Even though Ms. Derya Taskin is linked to several Turkish Government affiliated institutions in the U.S, many Americans remind her that she first represents Americans in Paterson regardless of their religion, ethnic and political backgrounds and tendencies. Many Turkish Americans in the region also suggest that she should not use her political power and influence on the Paterson Police Department or in Clifton against the other groups on behalf of Turkish AKP Government.
Police departments across the United States have exulted in lower crime rates and seemingly safer streets by applying "police legitimacy," "procedural justice," "fair and impartial policing," and "rightful policing." The recent incident in Paterson unfortunately raised questions about the potential bias within the Paterson Police Department which might unfortunately corrupt and interfere with police officer's ability to perform their duties fairly and impartially.
