Employees lose jobs over witchcraft claims

Mayor Mümin Kamacı announced in his weekly press conference that street sweeper Fatma Hatuk Eryürek and constabulary Ayşegül Menderes had been fired for practicing "pig magic." Kamacı claimed the two women had attempted to put a spell on both him and his deputy, Ahmet Karaoğlu, by rubbing pig grease on the doors of their offices and on their chairs. According to Kamacı, the alleged "witches" were immediately sent to the disciplinary board, which terminated their labor contracts according to the rules. Kamacı said he thinks the idea that the women were using magic is "laughable and funny," but the events might have been linked to an assassination attempt.

Eryürek denied the allegations of practicing witchcraft and said she was fired because she does not support the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, of which Kamacı is a member.

In a written statement to the press, she claimed Kamacı had been moving her from position to position since he was first elected in 2004.

"When Kamacı came, he took me from my science work and made me a telephone operator. One year later, they made me a constabulary. Then he suspended my labor contract for no reason,"she said. "And finally now I am a street sweeper on Yalı Street."