Orhan Çiftçi, the governor of Kırklareli province from Turkey's ruling AKP party, allegedly kidnapped a woman with whom he allegedly had a relationship for two years, Turkish daily Hürriyet reported.
The investigation was launched after the victim Meltem Ö., 48, told authorities that Orhan Çiftçi, 52, and four others took her to a forested land and beat her for approximately two hours in the western province of Bursa, where Çiftçi was serving as a governor of the Mudanya district at the time.
Meltem Ö, said she was able to escape them when she "kissed beneath the foot of Orhan Çiftçi upon his demand."
The woman told the chief inspector in her testimony that Çiftçi had told her he would only let her go and give back her mobile phone if she "kissed his foot." "He said, 'You will kiss them.' After not wanting to kiss them, I turned my head leftwards and he slapped my face with his foot. Then I kissed the bottom of both of his shoes. Then he told me, 'You can go,'" the woman was quoted as saying.
A security camera recording from May 8, showed a man next to the governor punching the woman in a parking lot, and then forcing her into a car.
After the incident, the woman obtained a report from a hospital on May 9, 2017, indicating that she was battered.
Meltem Ö., speaking to the Turkish press, denied having a romantic relationship with the governor, saying she had asked for his help after losing her job in 2016.
The governors in Turkey are directly assigned by the government among the pro-government figures.
