IN THE NEWS TURKISH TAXI DRIVER’S GESTURE WARMS SWEDISH HEARTS


A Turkish-born taxi driver in Sweden has been hailed as a hero after he lent his credit card for three days to a customer who forgot his wal- let on his way to a business trip in Ger- many. According to BBC News, the story was reported in Sweden and has become viral on social media in Turkey. The businessman, Christer Ostlund, told mediar he was worried that he wouldn’t make it home and back to the airport on time. Then his driver, Omer Temel, offered his credit card, assuring him that there was enough money on it.


As Mr Temel refused Mr Ostlund’s offer to transfer him money through a Swedish phone app,


the


client accepted his driver’s unexpected offer. Mr Temel then passed his card to Mr Ostlund, giving him his pin number and contact details. Mr Ostlund was touched by the ges- ture. “I had never met


this person


before. He had no idea who I was and where I was head- ing,” he said. The


story was


picked up by Turkish media outlets, with Mr Ostlund’s remark that “people like Temel would save the world” shared widely. In response,


politics. The anti- immigration Sweden Democrats


(SD)


gained momentum in the September 2018 election, which led to a government deadlock for the longest post-elec- tion period. After months of


failed


Omer Temel offers businessman, Christer Ostlund use of his credit card


Mr Temel said: “In my world you must dare to trust people, life feels more bliss- ful if you can live that way.” Meanwhile, Swedish social media users praised the driver for his act of kind- ness.


“Sometimes


faith in humanity is restored. Not often,


but occasionally,” one Facebook user commented under the story. “This warms my heart.


I’ve never


heard anything like this before,” another person wrote. The story comes amid rising pop- ulism and polaris- ation in Swedish


talks, Sweden’s cen- tre parties formed a coalition govern- ment in January to exclude the far-right. “There are racists in Sweden who create prejudices foreigners.


about One


tends to believe this and therefore the perception of for- eigners becomes limited,” a Facebook user


commented


under the story. “I wonder what SD


thinks about this, as they claim foreign- ers are after tax- payers’ money in Sweden. Honour to this man,” a Face- book user added. Mr Ostlund ended up borrowing 4,200 Swedish


kronor


(£350) of Temel’s money, which he returned after they reunited at the air- port in Stockholm. Mmmm… This just about sums up what we’ve said in Opinion inside this issue: we’re proud of our trade, the world over! What a fantastic ges- ture of trust and friendship on the part of the Turkish driver… and what an advert for both the trade and the country.- Ed.


6


MAY 2019


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