Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has announced disciplinary proceedings for party members who joined a recent opening ceremony of a Burger King branch in the Black Sea City of Rize. Burger King is currently under boycott by the AKP due to the chain’s alleged support of Israel.
Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik announced on Sunday, October 13, that disciplinary measures would be initiated.
In an announcement on social media, Çelik said:
“A decision has been made to initiate disciplinary measures for our mayors and party members. They attended the opening of a business that is currently being boycotted. This process will be carried out by our organizational chair.”
Burger King opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place in the city of Rize, famed for its conservative culture.
Several party officials were reportedly present at the ceremony.
Before the beginning of the ceremony, chaos broke out. Several participants were attacked by protesters yelling, “Israel be damned!”
The incident reportedly occurred just before the ribbon cutting. After that, the ceremony was paused for 10 minutes.
“I’ve never even eaten there”
Saffet Mete, one of the party officials who joined the ceremony, defended himself, saying:
“The owner of this business is a friend of mine from my school days. They came out to our municipality and invited us. There are thousands of Burger King locations in Rize and across the country. I have never eaten at a single one of them. If I had, it would have meant supporting Israel. I was at this opening ceremony for not even 10 minutes. I was just there for the ribbon cutting. Now there is a smear campaign underway. They are slandering three mayors for attending this ceremony. There are plenty of Israeli products in markets everywhere. So, let’s also stop buying anything from the markets. There’s clearly an issue with our perspective here.”
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Source: Birgün
Translated by Leo Kendrick
