Turkey: Transgender internet celebrity targeted by mob
A Turkish transgender internet celebrity and businessperson said after being targeted by a mob, "We all have troubles in our lives, but they eventually pass away."
????Konya'da Selin Ciğerci'nin açmaya hazırlandığı güzellik salonunun açılış programı, kalabalık bir grubun tepkileri sonrası iptal edildi. Kalabalık grup, ''Ya Allah Bismillah Allah-u Ekber'' sloganları attı. pic.twitter.com/nqBiLQyUqM
— 23 DERECE (@yirmiucderece) March 12, 2023
An angry crowd gathered on Sunday in the central Anatolian city of Konya outside the beauty parlor owned by Selin Cigerci, chanting takbir and slogans.
"Get out of Konya!" they cried out, and tried to burst into the beauty parlor but were narrowly prevented by the police.
An Islamist Twitter account said, in praise of the mob:
"Protesting people chased a homosexual nicknamed Selin Cigerci, whose real name is Hasan, out of Konya, chanting 'Get out of Konya!' after they spotted her at the opening of a beauty parlor."
Cigerci, with 4.5 million followers on Instagram, said in a video on Monday:
"I'll let everyone know what I think of the incident when the time is right. My sole purpose is to provide more employment. Within just a week's time 70 more ladies will have been recruited."
The incident in Konya has been protested by many individuals and groups. Women's Assemblies said on Twitter:
"She didn't steal, she didn't receive bribe, she didn't abuse. Selin Cigerci lives a life of her own choices. She is never alone."
Writer Arda Erel said:
"Only the targets of fascism change, its basic motivation is always the same (...) And the police's reluctance in dispersing the mob and its tolerance for the protest should also be discussed. If it were the feminists protesting, the police would have long targeted and dispersed them."
Singer Aleyna Tilki:
"We demand that every sort of discrimination is recognized as a criminal offense."
Writer Nevzat Celik:
"People in Konya, who made such a commotion over the opening of a beauty parlor, had not staged any protest and chanted takbir after Faruki cult's sheikh Suleyman Isik was arrested on charges of sexual assault against children, and later when he was released on grounds that 'there was consent in these relationships.'"
