PodcastWoman warned about wearing shorts upon 'library manager's instruction'
A 20-year-old woman has told a local Kocaeli newspaper that she had been warned by the security personnel of a government library not to wear shorts on the grounds that "the manager was disturbed with such outfits." The provincial authorities have confirmed the report saying an investigation was launched into the incident.
Duvar English
A 20-year-old woman has been warned by the security personnel of a government library "for wearing shorts." The incident occurred at the Gebze Youth Center Library in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, which is affiliated with the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The woman known only by initials M.U. told a local newspaper that she had not been warned “not to come this way” to the library.
“I had been wearing shorts for 3-4 days. Then I started to notice that the looks on me changed. A security staff member came next to me yesterday and told me that she came with the library manger's instruction. She said, 'Do not take this the wrong way, but it is not approved that you are wearing such an outfit,'” M.U. told Bağımsız Kocaeli newspaper on June 11.
M.U. said that she had not been expelled from the library, but the warning "on its own is a great mistake." “I told them that I will continue to wear shorts and we have different opinions. 'Wear them somewhere else, do not wear them here, our manager is disturbed by such things,' they told me,” M.U. said.
The head of the Kocaeli Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports, Muzaffer Cintimar, confirmed the report, saying that they have launched an investigation into the incident.
“But the incident has been exaggerated. Our youngster has not been insulted and not thrown out [of the library]. One of our female security personnel has warned her while they were smoking outside in front of the door. We will issue an official statement once the investigation is completed regarding the issue,” Cintimar was quoted as saying by daily Sözcü on June 11.