A former Turkish beauty queen faces up to a year in jail for comparing her period to “martyrs’ blood,” according to a report Thursday.
Itir Esen, 18, could spend a year in jail under charges of “publicly denigrating” Turkish society due to a tweet about her period, reported The Times of Israel. The tweet compares blood from her menstrual cycle to the anniversary of 249 people who lost their lives during a failed coup that happened July 15, 2016. The people are now celebrated in Turkey as martyrs, however, event organizers deemed this tweet “unacceptable.”
Prosecutors are seeking up to a year to jail for her based on the charge of “publicly denigrating some part of society based on their class, race, religion, sect, gender or regional differences.”
“I am having my period this morning to celebrate the July 15 martyrs’ day,” she tweeted this past summer. “I am celebrating the day by bleeding on behalf of our martyrs’ blood.” Since the tweet, Esen stated that it was careless but she had no political incentives, reported SBS News.
The former beauty queen who won Miss Turkey in September 2017, later had her crown taken away due to the tweet. Esen was forced to give back her crown and was not allowed to represent Turkey for Miss World in China. Instead, prosecutors opened a criminal probe against her.
Send tips to gabrielle@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.