'Gossip Booth' in Ağrı: Mayor's Pet Project & Worst Nightmare

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 January 2020)


                       Gossip: here today, gone tomorrow.

Last week, the Ağrı municipality set up a 'Dedikodu Kulübesi' (Gossip
Booth) in the city's Millet Bahçesi Park.  But when citizens reacted
negatively, the booth was covered with a tarpaulin and shut down. 
Hürriyet reporter İsmail Saymaz posted an image of the booth on
Twitter the day before yesterday.

In response, an apoplectic Mayor Savcı Sayan exclaimed that
"that booth was given to us by an amusement center and our
municipality placed the booth there as a citizens help center. When
the writing ('Dedikodu Kulübesi') was noticed  (!) we covered up the
booth.  You will pay for this in court!  You are shamelessly slandering
me, trying to become famous at my expense! But you won't gain
anything by it!"


               Apoplectic Mayor & Crusading Journalist


However (!), yesterday Saymaz posted on Twitter a recording of Sayan
touting the booth, in which Sayan said: "we'll now have a place to gossip.
I'm having a gossip booth set up in Millet Bahçesi Park. The booth will
have 3-4 chairs and 3-4 packs of cigarettes.  And I'm having tea service
arranged for, too.  I'll write on the booth 'Dedikodu Kulübesi' and
anyone who wants to gossip can do it in the booth, so as not to wrankle
the rest of the city.  I'll set up the booth 10 days from now.  Whoever
wants to gossip can go there, drink tea and smoke cigarettes.  Ağrı has
to keep gossip contained."



Gotta be some juicy gossip in this neighborhood.