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Majority disapproves of treatment of PM’s wife at GATA hospital
The ANDY-AR Center for Social Research recently conducted a survey on Turkey’s political agenda, the main question of which concerned the recent debate over the treatment of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s wife, Emine, at GATA when she wanted to visit an ailing thespian in 2007.
More than 60 percent of respondents said they disapprove of the decision to deny Emine Erdoğan entry to GATA because she wears the Islamic headscarf. Among the participants, 61.2 percent said they disagreed with the treatment of Erdoğan, while 13.5 percent said they approved of the move.
The remaining 25.3 percent said they had no opinion.
The issue was made public last month by Prime Minister Erdoğan during a live program on TRT 1. While commenting on civilian-military relations in Turkey, Erdoğan said he would like to share an incident that had upset him and his wife when it occurred in 2007. The prime minister said his wife was not allowed to enter GATA when she wanted to visit actor Nejat Uygur, who had been hospitalized when the left side of his body was paralyzed as a result of a stroke. Uygur’s wife confirmed that Emine Erdoğan was denied entry by the hospital administration because she wears a headscarf.
When asked whether they agree with the arguments suggesting that GATA acted intentionally when it denied Erdoğan entry because she wears the headscarf and that GATA might have let her in if she was somebody else, 64.3 percent of respondents agreed, while 18.2 said they disagreed with this statement.
Following the disclosure of the incident, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ expressed regret over its occurrence and said: “I wish such an incident had never occurred. It is impossible to defend.”
Asked how they feel about Başbuğ’s comment on the GATA incident, 70.4 percent said they found Başbuğ’s statement positive, while 16.9 percent voiced disapproval with the army commander’s remarks.
The remaining 12.7 percent said they had no opinion.
The respondents were also asked about a controversial headscarf ban that is in place at universities and public buildings in the country. A total of 50.2 percent of respondents said they were against the ban, 18.6 percent said they were in favor of it and 11.3 percent said they partially supported the ban. The ANDY-AR survey was conducted on 4,568 individuals in 21 provinces in Turkey in late January and early February.
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