Offended Wife Calls Emergency Services When Maid Arrives: ‘What Should I Say?’
In 2023, the 112 Emergency Call Center in Turkey was inundated with unnecessary and false reports, keeping the operators busy with non-emergency calls. Among those who called the center to ask for irrelevant help or advice were a bride who called because her maid had arrived and she didn’t know what to say, and a man whose wife was upset and not answering his calls.
Hülya Karaboğa, the Manager of the Mardin 112 Emergency Call Center, stated that coordination between relevant institutions is ensured to ensure immediate response to incidents. She also revealed that in 2023, the center received approximately 980 thousand calls, with approximately 3 thousand calls coming in daily, 60% of which were unfounded or unnecessary.
Training sessions have been planned for schools and rural areas to raise awareness and reduce hoax calls. The call center also provides services for tourists in multiple languages, including German, English, Russian, and Arabic.
The call center issued a total fine of 78 thousand 641 liras to those who falsely called multiple times, in accordance with the Misdemeanor Law.
The call center has 70 personnel and in 2023, they responded to more than 364 thousand calls in Siirt alone. Sami Bozkurt, a representative from the Siirt 112 Emergency Call Center, stressed the importance of not keeping the call center busy with unnecessary calls as it may delay responding to someone in urgent need.
Despite the challenges, the operators at the 112 Emergency Call Center are committed to providing the best service they can to the public. They also conduct outreach work to promote the importance of the center and its services. The operators have also had instances where they discovered that the person in need was a family member, enhancing their commitment to their work. They continue to hope for greater sensitivity from the public in making calls to the 112 Emergency Call Center.
