Extreme Measures in Çanakkale

blind links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 2 April 2012)

In Çanakkale on the morning of 20 March the side mirror of a car
driven by Cenk Yılmaz on Asaf Paşa Boulevard hit the arm of
Ibrahim Batdal (35), the president of the Çanakkale branch of the
Turkey Sight-Impaired Association, who was walking on the
sidewalk close to the road so as not to impede the other pedestrians
on the sidewalk.  The collision of Batdal's arm and the mirror broke
the mirror.

Saying he had urgent business to attend to, Batdal wanted to leave
the scene but an argument with Yılmaz ensued. Yılmaz thought
that Batdal would hit him with the folding cane he was carrying so
he took out the pepper spray in his pocket and sprayed Batdal
in his eyes. A surprised Batdal had his eyes cleansed with serum
at the Çanakkale State Hospital emergency room. Statements from
both individuals were taken by police and neither one filed a
complaint about the other.

Batdal realized he had be pepper sprayed when shopkeepers
nearby told him so. According to Batdal 'the driver got out of his
car and said 'are you blind? Don't you see what you're doing?' I
told him that I was in fact blind but I couldn't convince him. At
that moment I felt very bitter. I couldn't understand why a blind
person would be sprayed with pepper spray. But the effect was
quite extensive. My eyes were watering for two days.'

Cenk Yılmaz was ashamed to learn that the person he had pepper
sprayed was blind, saying 'it was an unfortunate incident. I thought
I was going to be hit on the head with the cane. Thinking he could
see me I took out the pepper spray to protect myself. Later I
found out that he can't see. If I had known that I wouldn't have
sprayed him for sure.'


relief links to related article

(Sözcü Newspaper, 2 April 2012)

In Çanakkale, Atila K. (20) entered the YGS (university entrance
exam) for the third time. After a while he felt uncomfortable and
informed the proctor. However, Atila K. was told that because of
the rules if he left the room he could not return. Faced with this
situation, Atila K. used the plastic bottle he had with him to relieve
himself.

Atila K. said that it was the stress of the exam that brought on
this situation. He explained that 'I wasn't able to hold it because of
the stress. In order to resolve the problem I used the plastic
bottle because I didn't want my future to fall victim to this situation.
The proctor saw what I was doing but I didn't have any other
choice.'