ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A fashion model-turned candidate running to be the head of a neighborhood in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir (Amed) says education and women rights are the forefront of her campaign as she continues to battle a wave of sexist remarks.
Simurg Sarsilmaz, a native of Diyarbakir who is a model, told Rudaw’s Kosar Osman on Wednesday that she was seeking to run for the muhtar position for Kaynartepe neighbourhood.
She said she made the announcement first on her X, previously Twitter, account and had thought people would not care.
“I thought that people will not take me seriously. I was also shocked by the amount of reactions I received,” she said.
She decided to take her intentions more seriously when she encountered wide support.
Muhtars are elected in Turkey's local elections for five years. While it is the highest civil position in Turkey's villages, the position has slightly less authority in urban areas essentially confined to registering the residents of the area and vouching for official administrative work such as the issuance of national identity cards.
Education and women rights are her key election campaigns, Sarsilmaz said.
Sarselmaz's first goal, she said, is to consider opening educational courses for illiterate women, and to help provide financial support for those families who were not able to send their children to school because of poverty.
“A child takes his/her first education from his/her mother… I believe that if a woman is educated, the whole society could slowly be educated,” she said.
On Wednesday, she posted a series of Tweets complaining about what she called fake news. The tweets came after news broke out that she had withdrawn her candidacy "after receiving death threats," and that she would file legal complaints against those who trolled her online, and that she was taking medication to manage her stress. While she denied most of the claims, she did not state whether she is out of the race or not.
She said she finds it deeply offensive when people choose to share her revealing photos that are related "to my job [fashion]" instead of the photos she filed with the election body.
Earlier in the day, she had told Rudaw that she wanted to root out a number of social ills in the neighbourhood including drugs and gambling.
"I will eradicate illegal gambling because I see from my area that many people have committed suicide because of this," Sarslmaz claimed.
Political parties are not allowed to put forward any candidate for muhtar position. Sarsilmaz told Rudaw that she does not belong to any political party.
“I am a patriot," she said while stating she does not belong to any of the political parties in the country.
She said she does not pledge to distribute food banks to the locals, but that she will make the "opportunity" for the people to earn their livelihoods.
“I do not promise them food boxes to the people, I promise them the education that would make them provide for themselves the food they desire,” she added.
Turkey is scheduled to hold local elections across the country on 31 of March 2024.
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