After the Local Government General Elections on March 1, 2024, 204 workers whose employment contracts were terminated by DEM Party member Mehmet Nuri Güneş sent an SMS to their mobile phones on the evening of July 5. On July 8, they started a sit-in protest. Iğdır Police Chief Erden Sakarya, who visited the workers on July 10, made a call for "restraint". Sakarya, in his speech to the protesting workers, said, "First of all, there should not be such an unfair, unlawful, unjust action at the beginning of the holy days, at the beginning of the month of Muharram. My request from you is to preserve your rightful and legal situation. Continue your protests within the framework of the law. Any kind of attack that may come from outside against you will be neutralized by the security forces. I wish you patience from Allah. You say justice, law, and rights, in my belief, justice, law, and rights will be manifested as soon as possible." YERLİKAYA: I CANNOT ACCEPT THIS BEHAVIORThe footage of Sakarya chewing gum during the visit caused a great reaction, especially on social media. When asked about his opinion on the matter, Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya stated that he did not approve of the footage. Minister Yerlikaya said, "I have never accepted a governor or a minister chewing gum while committing a crime or having a detention order or behaving like this in any other matter. It is an isolated incident, and I will take the necessary action."
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