31 Mayıs 2015 Pazar

Conquest Edition: How Quickly They Forget...

//ed. note: no link available. Original text below.//

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 31 May 2015)

//yesterday, 30 May, marked the anniversary of the
conquest of Byzantine Constantinople by Sultan
Mehmed II, Fatih (Conqueror), in 1453, and the 
beginning of the Turkish 'Istanbul' we know today.//

Image result for istanbul fethi
           The Conquest (Fetih) of Istanbul

Fatih Sultan Mehmed, who conquered Istanbul for the Turks
in 1453, died at Hünkâr Çayırı in Maltepe (actually Çayırova,
closer to Gebze) on 3 May 1481.  His body was secretly 
transferred to Topkapı Palace but when news of his death got
out anarchy was the (dis)order of the day in Istanbul. 

Image result for çayırova haritası
Çayırova, the place where Sultan Mehmed II died in 1481.

Soldiers began to pillage the city, thrash some of the statemen
in the streets and, in the meantime, the leaders of the state 
wrestled with each other to see who would take the throne. 
But while all this was going on in the city and the pashas were
gouging out each other's eyes, the embalming of the Sultan's 
body was forgotten. 

In fact, no one even remembered to put a lit candle by the 
body, as custom demanded, and the body began to smell.
Finally, when palace workers began to complain of the stench,
one of the palace guards, "Baltacılar Kethüdâsı Kasım" (Kasım,
the lieutenant colonel of the corps of halberdiers.) had the 
body embalmed.  

The tumult in Istanbul continued until 21 May, when Fatih
Sultan Mehmed's eldest son Bayezid, then governor of 
Amasya, came to Istanbul and assumed the throne. He had
his father's body buried the following day in a grand ceremony
at the mosque Sultan Mehmed had had built.  Baltıcılar 
Kethüdâsı Kasım was promoted and made "kapıcı" of the 
palace (Superintendant of Ushers, the title of the high
functionary of the state who took petitions to the Sultan 
as they were offered in public.)



Kasım wrote a note (above) to Bayezid to inform him that
Sultan Mehmed's body was causing a stench. Years ago 
the great historian İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı found the report,
which reads as follows: "My Exalted Sultan, Please read this
until the end for it concerns the soul of your father. After 
the Sultan's death, for three days and three nights no candle
burned next to him. I came and reported this to the Kapıcılar 
Kethüdâsı who then told İshak Paşa. At the order of the Paşa,
a candle was lit but because of the stench no one went near
the body. I and a master went and embalmed the body. The
Kethüdâ is aware of what I have written to you."


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FATİH'İN CENAZESİNİ SARAYIN BİR ODASINDA 
UNUTUP KOKUTMUŞTUK 
FATİH Sultan Mehmed, hayata 3 Mayıs 1481’de Maltepe
 civarındaki Hünkâr Çayırı’nda veda etti ve cenazesi
Topkapı Sarayı’na gizlice nakledildi.
Vefat haberi duyulunca İstanbul’da tam bir anarşi yaşandı. 
Askerler şehri yağma etti, bazı devlet adamlarını sokak
ortasında parçaladılar ve bu arada devletin büyükleri de
tahta kimin geçeceği konusunda birbirleriyle mücadeleye
girişti.
Şehirde bütün bunlar olup biter ve paşalar iktidar için
birbirlerinin gözünü oyarlarken cenazenin tahnidi unutuldu,
hatta naaşın başında mum yakılması âdeti bile kimsenin 
hatırına gelmedi ve cesed koktu! Devlet, cesedle alâkadar
olunması gerektiğini, saray görevlilerinin etrafı saran ağır
kokuya dayanamaz hâle gelip şikâyete başlamaları üzerine
hatırlayabildi ve tahnid ameliyesi“Baltacılar Kethüdâsı” 
yani saray muhafızlarından olan Kasım tarafından yapıldı.
İŞTE, KOKUTMA RAPORU 
Kargaşa, Fatih’in Amasya’da valilik eden büyük oğlu 
Bayezid’in 21 Mayıs günü İstanbul’a gelip vaziyete hâkim
olmasına kadar devam etti. Bayezid, cenazeyi gelişinin 
hemen ertesi günü, büyük bir merasimle babasının yaptırmış
olduğu camiye defnettirdi, Baltacılar Kethüdâsı Kasım’ı da
terfi ettirerek sarayın “kapıcı”kadrosuna aldırdı.
Kasım, cenazenin kokmasını daha sonra İkinci Bayezid’e bir
raporla duyuracak ve bundan yıllarca önce büyük tarihçi
İsmail Hakkı Uzunçarşılı’nın bulup yayınladığı raporunda 
“Devletlû sultanım, babanın ruhu için bu yazdıklarımı sonuna
kadar oku. Hünkârın vefatından sonra, üzerinde üç gün üç gece
mum yanmadı. Vardım, Kapıcılar Kethüdâsı’na söyledim, o da 
İshak Paşa’ya söyledi, paşa emredince mum yaktım. Ama koku
yüzünden cenazenin yanına kimseler yaklaşamadı. Ben, usta ile
gidip cenazenin içini boşalttım. Bu anlattıklarımı kethüdâmız
da bilir” diyecekti

30 Mayıs 2015 Cumartesi

Ringing in the New Year With Oktay D.

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 May 2015)

Yılbaşı partisi kabusu
             2015: The Year of the Maniac

Oktay D. (39) works as a mineral oil salesman in Antalya.
In December 2014 he picked up hitchhiker G.Ö. (22), a
university student, and gave him a ride from Burdur to
Antalya.  The two chatted along the way and they decided
to spend New Years together. Their plan was to gather at
Oktay D.'s house and to have two hookers brought to the
house.

Prior to New Years, Oktay D. took his wife and two of
their children to their village. Meanwhile, G.Ö. and his
friend H.Y. (23) came to Oktay D.'s house in Antalya with
the two hookers.  Also at the house were Oktay D.'s 16
year-old son  and his shoemaker friend Mehmet Ç. (33).

With regard to the hookers, Oktay D. said "I don't
understand anything." and then he allegedly raped the
university student at gunpoint.  He also sexually harassed
his friend Mehmet Ç.

Oktay D. beat G.Ö.'s friend H.Y. and tortured him with
cold water.  The following day he had the youths sell
their telephones for 500 TL and threatened G.Ö. to "find
me a girl."  In response, G.Ö. lured his 16 year-old
girlfriend to Oktay D.'s house, saying there would be
an audition there for a part for her in a play.

Oktay D. sexurally harassed the young girl and later,
when the girl told her parents what had happened, the
frightful chain of events became known. Oktay D.
and Mehmet Ç. were arrested. In court for a hearing
three days ago, Oktay D. said that he had been slandered
and that "my son has Vitiligo, a skin disease that makes
his skin flake off. I heard that sexual relations are a good
treatment for this disease (!). That's why I let the two
women come to my house. I didn't keep anyone in my
house by force and I didn't hold anyone hostage.

Image result for burdur antalya haritası
The road from Burdur to Antalya.

29 Mayıs 2015 Cuma

Another B-Movie Script Begs Production

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Sabah Newspaper, 29 May 2015)

Image result for oleg doev oleksandr dametov
    Oleg Doev, as depicted by Andy Warhol.

Oleg Doev and Oleksandr Dametov committed a murder in
Geogia and fled to Turkey where they used a 'skimmer'
device to copy credit cards at ATM's and commit fraud.
This activity brought the two to the attention of the police
and the killers are now being sought in Turkey, Georgia,
Ukraine and Russia.

It has been determined that the murder suspects and their
victim Baserion Khardziani were previously involved in
such criminal activity and worked in the same crime
organization.  A dispute arose between the three over the
profits from the copied credit card scam and Ukrainian
Doev and Russian Dametov murdered their cohort and
then disappeared.
Image result for sarp sınır kapısı haritası

The suspects entered Turkey through the Sarp border
crossing with Georgia and an "H" code arrest warrant
has been issued for them by Interpol. Security officials
in Georgia, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia are cooperating
to catch the suspects.

Image result for sarp sınır kapısı haritası
Sarp is on the Turkish side, opposite Batumi.