Shoot the Onion, Not the Groom

onion links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 July 2011)

In Eskil district of Aksaray province, Erdal Altan (25) kidnapped his
girlfriend Makbule Erkol (23). Based on this fait accompli the families
decided to have a wedding. So the day before yesterday the groom's
relatives, in accordance with tradition, put an onion on the 5-meter
flagpole where the Turkish flag was flying in front of their house and
asked guests to try to shoot it down. The winner would receive a gift
from the groom's mother.

One of the guests, H. Hüseyin Yalvaç (23), took two shots at the onion
with his pump-action rifle but the weapon then jammed. Yalvaç pointed
the gun toward the ground and it went off accidentally, with buckshot
hitting groom Erdal Altan and his cousin Cevdet Yalvaç in their legs and
stomachs. Both of the injured were taken to the hospital while H. Hüseyin
Yalvaç was taken into custody.