“We could not solve this problem. It was meaningless to block the functioning of the union in the face of a problem that could not be resolved,” he said.
Evren quit his post last week after Emir Ali Şimşek failed to resign despite allegations accusing him of sexually harassing a young woman who works in KESK’s office building. “The claims that have been made public under such headlines as ‘Sexual harassment at KESK’ create a situation that is completely at odds with the values that KESK stands for,” Evren said in a statement released after his resignation.
Evren was also asked about a statement issued on the same day as his resignation by KESK’s Women’s Secretariat that said: “Since Chairman Sami Evren and his friends could not prove the claims of ‘sexual harassment’ from the beginning [of this incident], they have engaged in a smear campaign to strengthen their own power. When this attitude was not accepted by our board, they resigned.” Noting that he is not the person who made the allegations, Evren said he does not want to comment further on the issue. Evren said he now plans to return to his profession, which is teaching. Stating that there is no legal obstacle before him to return to teaching, he said he would soon apply to education authorities in İstanbul.
