Overpass Staircase Gone Missing

nowhere links to original article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 30 January 2013)

Don't jump!

An overpass that went into service two years
ago in the Esentepe neighborhood of Eleskirt
district on the E-80 highway that connects
Agri and Erzurum provinces, was removed
because of road expansion being implemented
by the Highways Department. But once the
expansion was completed the overpass steps
weren't put back. 

Three months later, the staircase has still not
been re-installed and the situation is creating a
reaction. Saban Birdal, who lost his son in a traffic
accident, said that "as a broken-hearted father whose
son died in a traffic accident here three months ago,
I have to ask 'what are you waiting for?' Do more
children have to die for the overpass to be completed?"

The Eleskirt district chief, Hakan Ezgi, asserted that
letters have been sent to the concerned offices to get
the bridge completed. Acting Mayor Mustafa Gokturk
lamented that "although we've written to the Highways
Department time and time again we're being ignored."

Eleskirt way out east.

Picasso, Football and Elazığ

picasso links to related article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 January 2013)

Now showing in Elazığ, of all places.

Four people who wanted to sell a painting supposedly
belonging to Spanish painter Pablo Picasso have been
arrested. The Gendarmerie, acting on a tip, stopped a
vehicle carrying four people, en route from Malatya to
Elazığ.

In the ensuing search, the Gendarmerie seized the painting,
which portrays poverty and hunger related to the 'Harlequin
Family'. The work was done by Picasso in 1905 and has been
in the Washington Lulian Eisenstein collection. The four suspects,
who aimed to sell the work for 10 million dollars, have been
taken into custody. In order to determine whether the painting
is original or not, it has been sent to the Elazığ Museum Directorate.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

futbol links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 29 January 2013)

Footballer Bilica, Sibel O. and "Vet" Aydoğan K.

The villa of Elazığspor's Brazilian football player Fabio Bilica
in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, was the scene of an unusual robbery
incident. Allegedly, as Bilica was leaving for Elazığ he told the
security guard, with whom he left the house keys, that a veterinarian
would be coming to the house.

Suspect Aydoğan K. somehow learned about this key arrangement
and, passing himself off as a veterinarian, got the keys from the security
guard. Aydoğan K. then summoned his girlfriend Sibel O. to the villa
for four days of partying, after which he loaded 750,000 TL worth of
Bilica's belongings into a minibus and took off.

Based on security camera videos, Aydoğan K. was quickly identified
and arrested. Also taken into custody by Büyükçekmece police was
the taxi driver who took the minibus driver, Aydoğan K. and Sibel O.
to a house in Bağcılar, Istanbul. According to the taxi driver's statement,
Aydoğan K. didn't have any money to pay him for the fare so he gave
the driver what he claimed were Bilica's football cleats instead. The
taxi driver asked police to return the cleats to Bilica.
 

Elazığ - smack in the middle of nowhere.

 

TV 'Begger' a Bit Too Authentic

begger links to original article

(Sabah Newpaper, 27 January 2013)

TV host gets police attention and 23 TL

Bilal Tavlak is a presenter who makes comedy
programs for a channel in Erzurum so he decided
to do a show about the increase of street beggers
in Erzurum. Tavlak wanted to draw attention to
the issue and to see how much money a begger
could collect in an hour's time.

So Tavlak dressed like a panhandler, wearing
a regional shawl to cover his face,  parked himself
on Erzurum's busiest street, Cumhuriyet Boulevard,
and began to beg. The police made an announcement
for Tavlak to move on but he didn't notice. When the
police came closer, thinking Tavlak was a woman,
they said "get out of here. It's forbidden for women
to beg."

When the police finally realized that Tavlak was a
man they started to bring him in to the police station.
At this point, Tavlak referred to the cameras filming
him from a distance and declared 'I'm filming a program."
Unconvinced, the police began hauling him off. Ultimately,
Tavlak's TV colleagues appeared and assured the police
that Tavlak was who he claimed to be.

Explaining the situation, Tavlak said that "each week
I try to raise viewers' consciousness through sketches
and reporting. So this week I chose this unique way to
highlight the near occupation of the city by beggers. I
wanted to see how much a begger could get in an hour.
My goal was an hour but I only could beg for 25 minutes.
I collected 23 TL in that time. The police were ready to
hustle me down to the police station but thanks to the
cameras they backed off."

Erzurum province

Attack Dogs Incentivize Race Champ

dogs links to related article

(Takvim Newspaper, 24 January 2013)

Samet (192) adds high hurdles to his race repertoire

Fear of dogs won him first place. A fairy tale incident occurred
in Muğla. The "Inter-school Cross-country Race" was held
yesterday, with 195 contestants from 36 schools participating.
Water-soaked roads and street dogs gave the runners all they could
handle.

As the boy students competing in the 3,000 meter approached
to within 100 meters of the finish line two street dogs attacked
them. Barış Adsiz, who was leading the race until the attack, lost
his concentration and the lead when the dogs appeared and he
finished third. Tolga Töngül, however, sped up during the dogs'
attack and went from third place to second.

Samet Meşe was in second place when the attack happened but
he lept over the dogs and finished the final 100 meters
at light speed, coming in first. Samet (14), a student at Milas
Dörttepe Elementary School, said "I was so scared, I don't know
how I ran!"

 

The Stuff of Movie Scripts...

moviescript links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 23 January 2013)

Movie Star looks - Nihat can play himself in the film.

Medine (28) and coffee shop operator Nihat Özkan (32)
married in Sarıkamış district of Kars province and they
have two children. However, Medine disappeared about
a year ago. When Nihat learned that Medine had run off
with his sister's husband Mehmet Boztoprak (32), the
father of two, he began to search for them province by
province.

Through a friend Nihat learned that his wife and brother-
in-law were living at an address in Kulu district of Konya
province. So he took his co-worker Ismail Yaman with
him and went to Kulu on Sunday, 20 January. Nihat broke
down the door there and first shot his wife twice in the head.
He next pointed his gun at Boztoprak but the gun jammed
and Boztoprak fled to the garden. Nihat caught him there
and stabbed Boztoprak numerous times. Nihat and Yaman
then ran away.

Medine died at the scene but Boztoprak, despite having
30 stab wounds, was able to leave the house and seek help.
Boztoprak identified his killer with his dying breath and
died at Kulu State Hospital. Police looked at surveillance
video and discovered that the car Nihat had escaped in
was last seen on the Ankara highway.

A special team from the Konya police found out that
Nihat had a relative living in Eskişehir so the team went
there, finding Nihat preparing to leave the country. The
night before last Nihat and Yaman were taken into custody
at Nihat's relative's farm.

In his statement to police Nihat said that "I've saved my
honor. A big burden has been lifted from me. I stabbed
Boztoprak so many times I figured he was dead. I later
read in the paper that he had survived a bit before dying."

Sarıkamış in Kars Province

Kulu (bottom) is in Konya province but closer to Ankara

Stir-crazy Crook Shirks House Arrest

stir-crazy links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 22 January 2013)

Kinda looks like an unsavory character...

Cihan Karadeniz was tried in Istanbul in 2004 on
18 counts of purse-snatching but last year he was
able to take advantage of a Justice Ministry program
for house-arrest, along with 133 other criminals, so
he returned to his home in Gaziosmanpaşa, Istanbul.

Every day Karadeniz goes to the police station and
signs in. Last Friday a woman in Zeytinburnu had
her purse snatched by a passing stolen automobile.
Police teams found the stolen car used in the incident
but the suspect escaped on foot. Police then learned
that the car had been stolen in Eyüp.

Karadeniz was taken into custody and shown the
victimized woman, who identified him as the thief.
It turned out that after Karadeniz had signed in at
the police station he stole the car and committed
the purse snatching before returning home. Suspect
Karadeniz was arrested by the court.

Ecstatic Grandma Holds Cancer Cure

ecstacy links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 21 January 2013)

Cancer cure heroine (!) A.K. with fellow scientist

Narcotics teams from the Bursa Police's Anti-Smuggling
and Organized Crime Bureau got a tip that a woman would
be bringing narcotic pills from Istanbul and went into action.
When police saw A.K.(70) alight from a bus at the Bursa
Intercity Bus Terminal they took the woman, who has a
record of offenses including one for "robbery with special
skill", into custody.

A.K. was found to be carrying 500 "ecstacy" pills but she
told police that "I didn't know they were narcotics. I was
taking them to a cancer patient. I thought the pills were
cancer medicine." In the statement she gave at the police
station A.K. stated that "Am I a gang leader? I was only
bringing the pills that were entrusted to me to a cancer
patient."

As the elderly woman was being transported to court she
screamed at journalists, saying "I thought it was cancer
medicine! How was I to know it was a narcotic?"   The
suspect was taken to the court on duty and then arrested
and jailed.

Microwave Oven Becomes Washer

microwave links to original article

(Haberciler.com internet site, 16 January 2013)

Father of Invention

Nihat Avcilar (47) has run a coffee shop for years
in Lapseki district of Canakkale province. He told
a correspondant from Anadolu Ajansi (Anatolian
News Agency) that washing cups and glasses at
his shop is a separate job so he looked around for
a washing machine that would do the job. However,
he couldn't find one.

Avcilar said that "there are cup/glass washing
machines on the market but the price is about
3,000TL. We found this to be rather expensive.
After all, we're selling tea for 50 kurus (about 20
cents) per glass."  He noted that sometimes, when
the shop is busy, he has trouble keeping the cups/
glasses washed.

He added that "my friends and I began to think
about making such a machine ourselves. That's
when we made a cup/glass washing machine out
of a microwave oven. I put two valves under the
oven and two each on the top and the sides.  Then
I connected the oven to a water source. After placing
the cups and glasses on the grill inside the oven,
I open the valves and the cups and glasses get
thoroughly cleaned thanks to the pressured water."

Avcilar explained that Saturdays, in particular,
are very busy and he has had trouble serving his
customers tea. He stated that "we hired someone
to wash the cups/glasses but that's an added
expense and too much water gets wasted. I happy
with this new system I've come up with. I'm going
to develop it further. Our microwave oven has
become a micro cup/glass washing machine."

Lapseki at north end of Dardanelles

 

A Scene Worthy of 'Airplane'

airplane links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 January 2013)

Drunken Azerbaijanis on the loose...

Two drunk Azerbaijani citizens, L.Y. (31) and F.Ü.(!) (40),
were on a flight that left Istanbul's Atatürk Airport at
2200 hours the night before last, en route to Izmir. The
two fell asleep without turning off their cellphones and
both phones began to ring while the flight was ongoing.
Despite many rings neither L.Y. nor F.Ü. awoke to answer
so the cabin attendants woke them up and asked them to
turn their phones off.

The two Azerbaijanis refused to shut their phones off
and the phones kept on ringing during the flight, prompting
other passengers to complain. After the plane landed at
Izmir's Adnan Menderes Airport, L.Y. and F.Ü. argued
with, insulted and shoved their fellow passengers on the
service bus. Women and children on the bus were in a
state of panic and when the driver finally opened the door
the threatened passengers fled onto the apron. Some
passengers fainted and one, Teyfik Çağlan, was slightly
injured.

Police and security guards intervened and L.Y. and F.Ü.
were taken into custody but passengers complained that
police action was taken too late. After giving their statements
both L.Y. and F.Ü. were released.

Turk Lothario Has Japanese Fetish

japan links to original article

(Posta Newspaper, 11 January 2013)

Ismail Y.(28) stands accused of duping two Japanese
women, who came to Istanbul as tourists, with promises of
marriage and he has been arrested by police. Ismail Y.
denied the charges but it turns out that he is married to
yet another Japanese woman.

Japanese tourist Y.O.(40) filed a complaint with the Istanbul
prosecutor, saying that she met Ismail Y. a year ago when he
was her tour guide and they became a couple. In her complaint,
Y.O. said that "he said he would marry me. He got 3 million
Japanese Yen from me during this period. Then he disappeared."
Based on the complaint, police picked up Ismail Y. in the
Sultanahmet section of Istanbul.

During questioning at the police station Ismail Y. denied the
accusations leveled against him and said that he and Y.O.
spent the 3 million Japanese Yen together. Nevertheless, another
Japanese tourist, Y.M., filed a separate complaint against Ismail
Y., claiming that he promised to marry her, took her to Ordu,
on the Black Sea coast, and in fact married her in a religious
ceremony there. Y.M. produced the relevant documents related
to the wedding and added that she gave Ismail Y. 115,000 TL
during this period.

At the Pickpockets and Fraud Bureau, Ismail Y. was again
interrogated and it was learned that he married a Japanese
citizen in 2004. Ismail Y. claimed that the woman is now
in Japan so he hasn't beeen able to divorce her.  Ismail Y.
was taken to jail after processing.

Hugh Hefner Take Note

blackwidow links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 11 January 2013)

Hacı Yusuf Ç. (80) returned from Germany and settled
in Izmir. After losing his wife, he married Şenay Ç.(53)
last year. The elderly man was kidnapped on 12 December
by four people who stole 400TL from him and then threw
him out on the road. However, thanks to security cameras,
Gökhan B.(26) was arrested and confessed that he had agreed
with Şenay Ç. to kill Hacı Yusuf Ç. for 50,000TL but couldn't
bring himself to do it.

It turned out that Şenay Ç. arranged for a house for herself
and duped Hacı Yusuf Ç. into giving her power of attorney,
after which she withdrew 250,000TL from his account.
Şenay Ç. tried to kill Hacı Yusuf Ç. herself by putting narcotic
pills in his food, arranging an auto accident and electrocution.
When all her efforts failed, Şenay Ç. hired a hit-man. Seven
people were taken into custody in connection with the matter,
including Şenay Ç., her son and son-in-law.

Heavyweights in Freight Elevator

elevator links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 7 January 2013)

An accident occurred in a maximum 3-person freight
elevator in a municipal building in Şişli, Istanbul,
when six people got into it. In the resulting lawsuit,
an expert who prepared a report for the elevator firm
stressed that the passengers were themselves 'grossly
overweight' and he found them to be the 'main cause'
of the accident. However, the judge disregarded this
report and fined the elevator firm's partner.

Some 3.5 years ago some of the citizens who came
to the building to celebrate a holiday used the freight
elevator because the others were occupied. After the
6 people boarded the elevator its ropes failed at the
third floor and the elevator fell. One of the passengers,
Güleser Ç. (59), broke her legs.

The report prepared by the elevator firm noted that
the total capacity of the elevator was 240 kilograms
for three people, whereas the 6 people who boarded
it - all 'grossly overweight' in the words of the report -
totaled 550 kilograms.  Consequently, this burden
caused the accident, according to the report.

Nevertheless, after the inquiry a suit was opened against
Şişli Deputy Mayor Tayfun Kahyaoğlu and elevator
firm partners Faruk Birgün and Mahmut Sefer Mala
for 'causing a person's injury through negligence.'  Mala
was fined 3,000 TL, based on a 150-day judicial assessment.
Sentening was postponed until a future date.

Everyone Wants a Sharp Massage But...

massage links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 8 January 2013)

In the Ahmediye neighborhood of Üsküdar, Istanbul,
Ismail Acılar (47), who works as a tea man at a
horse racing outlet, asked Ali Kırtak (21), a customer
who came to the outlet together with Acılar ten minutes
earlier, to give him a massage.

Kırtak then began to massage Acılar, the married father
of two, who sat in a chair. However, as seen in security
camera footage, Kırtak took out a knife and began to stab
Acılar repeatedly in the neck. Half of the knife broke off
but the part that stuck in Acılar caused damage to his
lung.

Kırtak fled but was captured by police. As for Acılar,
he was taken to Siyami Ersek Heart and Vein Surgical
Training and Research Hospital for treatment. In his
statement given at the police station, Kırtak claimed that
Acılar had made an improper advance toward him.

Kırtak had come to Istanbul from Aydın, where he worked
in a coffee house, four days ago. After processing at the
police station he was taken to jail.

Call of Nature Foils Thieves' Getaway

train links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 7 January 2013)

In Fatih, Istanbul, police on patrol the night before
last arrested Hüseyin K.(19) in connection with a
robbery at a workplace. At the same time, police
got word that a train had hit a person at the
Kocamustafapaşa train station. The police then
went to the scene of the accident and noticed that
the two friends of the person injured in the train
accident were acting suspiciously.

Police looked into the situation a bit further and
found a computer and monitor nearby. It turned
out that these three individuals were friends of
Hüseyin K. and that they were planning to load
the goods onto the train illegally.

As for the train accident, Ali B. (17) said in his
statement that he was in the process of relieving
himself when the train approached and he couldn't
get out of the way in time.  Ali B. was taken to a
hospital, where his condition is said to be good.

Hüseyin K., arrested at the crime scene, and Doğan
Ş. (17) and Nurullah B. (17), arrested along with
the computer near the train station, were all taken
to the police station  for booking.

Hitchcock's Dream Comes True

birds links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 2 January 2013)

Tippi Hedren nowhere in sight...

In Sarkoy district of Tekirdag province, thousands
of starlings occupied rooves, trees and roads in the
town center, seemingly trying to keep New Year's
eve relvelers awake with their incessant chirping.
And the starlings flew from place to place by the
thousands, amazing the town's residents.

Ilyas Keklik (whose surname means "partridge")
of the Sarkoy Hunters and Marksmen Association
said that the starlings migrate on the same few days
each year. He added that "since the starlings fly as
a group, they cannot be legally hunted. They migrate
at the beginning of January and stay in our area for
about 15 days."

Sarkoy in yellow

 

Kid Saved in Heroic Rescue

kid links to original article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 31 December 2012)

Kid cuddled after rescue by AKUT

For twenty days a young goat had been stranded
on rocks 130 meters above the Amintas rock
tombs in Fethiye district of Mugla province.
So the day before yesterday an AKUT (Turkey's
rescue squad) team began an operation to
reach the kid.

The 7-person team first scaled the 130 meter
cliff and after setting up a station, began to
descend 40 meters to where the kid was stuck.
Hearing about the operation, the kid's owners,
Kadir and Havana Ercomek, arrived at the scene.
Havana recognized her kid from afar and watched
the rescue effort with fear and excitement.

An AKUT member reached the kid after a 1.5
hour descent but was hindered by the bushes on
the rock. Finally, though, the kid's legs were
tied and it was lifted up in a net to safety. After
the operation, which could have been an action
movie, the AKUT team named the kid 'Karaoglan'
(a Turkish comic book character who 'lived' in
Central Asia during the reign of  Gengis Khan).

The weak and exhausted kid was delivered to
its owners, at last.

Fethiye district on the right.