The Turkish lingerie caper

[donsu]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HH09Ak03.html

In a country more usually concerned with questions of outerwear (headscarves, veils and so on), underwear rarely gets a look in. What a man or woman chooses to don beneath his or her clothes is considered a matter of private interest. But one news story broke with tradition last week and aired one particular trade union's dirty linen. The front page of Hurriyet was pasted with pictures of bras and knickers, all of which make for good and eye-catching space fillers in the quiet season when parliament is closed.

The story revolves around Sevgi Akbulak who owns and runs the Istanbul-based firm Sevgi (Love) Lingerie. Finding herself with 13,000 extra brassieres, panties, slips and nightdresses after a large export order to France, she put the goods up for sale on the Internet. Among the interested parties who contacted her regarding their purchase was trade union Anatolia Kamu-Sen from Ankara.

The trade union's leaders, Omer Mustafa Orhun, Murat Firtina, Ozgur Aksoy and Adnan Erden, corresponded with her and told her that they intended to buy the lingerie and then give it away as promotional gifts both to their female members and to needy women in the Ankara area. Not recognizing the name of the union, Akbulak telephoned the Ministry of Labor and asked it to confirm that such an organization existed and was active, which it duly affirmed. Reassured, the smart and cautious business woman shipped the underwear out and accepted post-dated checks from the union to the tune of 52,000 liras (more than US$35,000).

-snip- the checks bounced, she couldn't find anybody

Despite Sevgi Hanim's inability to find the trade union committee members, they have not been slow in coming forward to the press. Chairman Omer Mustafa Orhun has responded to Akbulak's expose of their non-payment with a legion of excuses. First, he claimed she had overcharged them for the products, saying that they were available on the open market for 1 lira, and that she had invoiced for 6.8 liras. He added that he had tried to return 6,000 of the items as they were faulty. Explaining how the men of the trade union had discovered this, he said: "We organized a fete at the Mars Bowling Alley in Ankara and gave away the undergarments as well as sweaters, shirts and food, but soon after people started to complain. Bras that were labeled as Size 90 shrank to Size 30 when they were washed. The quality was no good."

-snip- some of the public wondered what a union of about 10,000 men wanted 13,000 bras for?

Minister for Labor Murat Basesgioglu, whose department offered Akbulak the words of reassurance on which she made her sales decision, said the matter had been brought to his attention. Perhaps this is the time to remind all our readers of his likely impact on the situation. We all know that politicians, like underwear, should be changed often and for the same reasons.
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yes indeed, we too know dirty underwear wearing politicians

[havocmom]

1. Great metaphor for business & politics in this era

Just pure poetry!