Discrimination against Hakkari by Red Bull employee: 'More dangerous than 80 cities'

* Photo: National Parks

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In Turkey's southeastern province of Hakkari, where mountain tourism has been increasing, mountaineers are now faced with the manipulation of the sponsor company. Mountaineering guide İskender Kahraman, in a message on his social media account, shared a screenshot of an email sent by a Red Bull Turkey employee to a mountaineer who wanted to come to Hakkari.

In the related email, the employee is seen to be referring to "safety issues" and warning the mountaineer against coming to Hakkari.

As shared by Kahraman, the email reads as follows:

...On the other hand, I think we better be more open in this conversation. The province of Hakkari was a place called 'state of emergency' up until 2-3 years ago because of terror incidents. On top of it, the city is in between Iraq and Syria borders so the territory contains more serious risks than 'tricky' situations. Our athlete and the production crew can come across with safety issues. As a part of Red Bull family and citizen of Turkey, I certainly do not recommend them to go and stay there 1-2 weeks. Unfortunately it is not a district that you can compare with his last visits (Erzincan, etc.) It is the most distant location in Turkey and we do not have any access with our regional teams but only with a local distribution partner. There are 81 cities in Turkey and Hakkari is the only one that you should definitely avoid. I wouldn't jump in to this email for the rest of 80 cities...

'The mountaineer accepted my invitation'

İskender Kahraman has underlined that the remarks in the email are discriminatory and have a negative impact on sports activities. He has noted that though it does not reflect the mentality of the corporation, he has condemned that the employee of a corporation supporting sports activities has led to such discriminatory narratives and views.

Underlining that what wants to be done there is othering in the name of "safety", he has stressed that sports must be promotional and uniting for the region. On his social media account, Kahraman has briefly said:

"Wrong and discriminatory remarks against Hakkari from Red Bull! 'Of the 81 cities in Turkey, Hakkari is the only one you should definitely avoid, go to all cities but not to Hakkari on the Syrian border!'

"As is known, we have been striving to start and offer tourism flow to our Hakkari province and districts and to develop tourism there. We organize various touristic events and make efforts in this context. However, most of the time, we are faced with both local and external obstacles or hardships and we sometimes cannot overcome these hardships personally.

"We have encountered one of these obstacles these days. As a Hakkari mountaineering guide, I invite people and groups such as guides, athletes, mountaineers and photographers from across Turkey and the world to promote our Hakkari. In this context, I invited a world-renowned mountaineer. Having accepted my offer, the mountaineer first came to Hakkari (Yüksekova) and, after making the necessary examinations, s/he decided to shoot a film about ski mountaineering. It is seen that when the mountaineer came to Turkey again this year, Red Bull tried to mislead and prevent her/him from coming to Hakkari and to dissuade her/him from coming to Hakkari with wrong discriminatory and racist remarks.

"I would especially like the authorities of Turkey, our Governor of Hakkari and the Sub-Governor's Office of Yüksekova to help me with this issue and to do what needs to be done in this context."

'I am disturbed by this perception'

Kahraman has spoken to bianet after sharing this post and said that while support for sports activities should increase, both athletes and the interest in the local area are negatively affected by such actions:

"Hakkari has a natural beauty and its is highly suitable for ski mountaineering. That Red Bull supports sportspeople does not give it the right to speak ill of the region or to influence negatively in such a way to affect sports. As an inhabitant of the region and a guide working here, I am disturbed by the created perception and the damage that might arise." (HC/HA/SD)