AK Party's İrfan Çelikaslan faces backlash over child laborer post

AK Party Gaziantep Deputy İrfan Çelikaslan drew widespread criticism from the public and non-governmental organizations after sharing a photo featuring child laborers during a visit to an industrial site on his social media account with the note, 'Tradesmen pursuing their halal sustenance with the sweat of their brow.'

AK Party Gaziantep Deputy İrfan Çelikaslan visited an industrial site in the Şehitkamil district on Saturday, October 17. Sharing frames from his visit on his social media account, Çelikaslan used the expression, "We drank tea with our industrial tradesmen pursuing their halal sustenance with the sweat of their brow and shared in their conversation," for a photo featuring children in dirty clothes with their hands and faces covered in oil and paint.

The deputy, who quickly received backlash from many users on social media on the grounds that child labor was legitimized in this way, turned off comments on his posts. Mehmet Türkmen, General President of the United Textile, Weaving and Leather Workers' Union (BİRTEK-SEN), reacted harshly to the situation, criticizing the presentation of children working at this age as something to be proud of.