Revenge for Towed City Car Closes Lot

towed links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 27 May 2011)

The town of Kağıthane, incensed over the towing of a rented municipal
vehicle by the traffic police, had a large hole dug at the entrance of the
traffic holding lot and two truck-loads of rubble dumped there.

The towing of rented Kağıthane Municipality vehicle from in front of
the IETT bus stop at Seyrantepe by a traffic police tow-truck to the
traffic holding lot at Bostan Street Erde in central Kağıthane
triggered an action that boggles the mind.  The tow-truck driver left a
bill for 60TL at the holding lot for the cost of the tow. The vehicle's
driver came to the lot at 1 o'clock the day before yesterday to retrieve
it and told the lot's owners, Mustafa Cam and Hüsnü Erim, that the
vehicle belonged to the municipality so he didn't want to pay the fine.

The lot owners, though, said that 'we won't ask for any money but
the tow-truck driver is working on behalf of the Istanbul governor's
office so his money must be paid.' The vehicle's driver then said in
response, 'give me the bill. I'll go to the municipality and explain what
happened.'  He paid the charge and took the vehicle.

The real story start here though. When Kağıthane Deputy Mayor Ömer
Kır learned about the incident he intervened right away. Within an hour
he had a backhoe dig a giant hole in front of the holding lot. Kır, who
couldn't contain himself, also had two truck-loads of rubble dumped
there. The holding lot's entrance was not completely closed off so a
municipal vehicle was parked in the remaining section of the entrance.
Consequently, 14 cars towed to the lot for traffic violations, along with
100 citizens who had come to retrieve their cars, were left stranded
outside the lot. One person who was victimized needed to go to a
funeral but couldn't get his car out of the lot.

With regard to claims made about the incident, Kağıthane Mayor Fazlı
Kılıç said that '40 percent of the lot belongs to the municipality. That
where we dumped the rubble. Vehicles can get out. No one has been
victimized.' The lot owners, though, characterized the action as bullying
and stated that 'this kind of penalization could only happen in Turkey.
The people know no justice. We filled in the hole the backhoe made
using shovels.'