'Honey Traps' Set in Izmir

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 31 May 2017)


Pretty in Pink? Don't be fooled by these temptresses!

Two gangs in Izmir bilked two unsuspecting victims out of 10,000 TL
(about $3,000).  The targets were grocer K.K. (70) and real estate agent
İ.S. (51).  The first incident occurred in Buca, where the gang sent Z.A.
(25) to lure rich grocer K.K. to her home.  Once there, Z.A.'s 'husband'
E.C., along with A.A. and two women, suddenly appeared at the house
and caught K.K. in the buff.

E.C. threatened K.K., screaming "what are you doing with my wife?!"
At this point, A.A. intervened and told K.K. that if he paid some money
E.C. would calm down.   In response, K.K. gave E.C. and A.A. 5,000
TL in cash and wrote them a  check for 5,000 TL more.  They released
K.K. but he immediately went to the police, who quickly rounded up
the three women.  E.C. and A.A. remain at large.

In the second incident, in Bornova, a woman named N.A. came to İ.S.'s
real estate office on the pretext of renting a house.  Shortly thereafter
N.A. invited İ. S. to her home, where her 'husband' C.C. and 'brother'
H.E. were laying in wait to catch İ.S. in the buff (!).  Clearly offended,
C.C. upbraided İ.S., saying "you've insulted my honor! But if you give
us some money we'll pardon you."

İ.S. gave C.C. and H.E. 10,000 TL but the suspects loaded İ.S. into
a car, intending to take him to a remote site in Kemalpaşa district.  En
route, though, İ.S. jumped from the moving car and called police, who
soon arrested N.A., C.C. and H.E.


                       İzmir province

  

Fork in the Throat; Elevator's Car Hostage

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 29 May 2017)


No, she wasn't practicing to be a sword swallower.

In Bursa's Orhangazi district, Naciye Ak (19) used a fork to attend to a
bad tooth but the fork slipped down her throat (!).  The incident occurred
at about 10:30 last night in the Üregil neighborhood when, after the iftar
meal (fast breaking evening meal during Ramazan), Naciye was using
the fork as a toothpick.

Naciye's father, taxi driver İsmail Hakkı Ak, rushed her to the Orhangazi
State Hospital from where she was transferred to Uludağ University
Hospital for further treatment.   During an operation the fork was removed
and Naciye was expected to be released from the hospital this evening.
Her father explained that "I was at the taxi stop when my wife called
and cried 'Naciye is dying!' so I took her to the hospital right away. She'd
been complaining about her teeth and then the forked slipped down her
throat.  We hadn't been able to get her to a dentist beforehand."



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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 29 May 2017)


       An elevated level of frustration.

In Eskişehir, market owner Cengiz Önal (37) went to visit his father in
his 4-story apartment building a year ago.  Önal and his 1.5 year-old
daughter Belinay boarded the building's car elevator but the cable broke
and the car plunged 6 meters down.  Neither Önal nor his daughter were
injured but the car remains where it has been for a year, inside the broken
elevator (!).

Önal filed suit against the building's administrators and he lamented that
"this is not an accident that could easily happen to someone. In fact, I
don't call it an accident, I call it negligence.  With my daughter with me
in the car we boarded the elevator, rose up to the highest level and then
the cable broke.  Two days before the accident the elevator had been
serviced, according to the log.  We appealed to the proper authorities
but nothing has happened for a year.  I want my car to be removed from
the elevator and to be compensated."

Önal said that he has talked with a number of winch operators but they
all ask exorbitant fees to remove the car.





 

1,453 Dump Trucks Parade for Record

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 30 May 2017)


       Let's see the North Koreans top this!

In commemoration of the 564th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest
of Istanbul in 1453, the contractor building the third Istanbul airport
organized a 1,453 dump truck parade (!) to break the Guinness world
record for the "Longest Truck Parade".

The CEO of İGA Airport Construction Yusuf Akçayoğlu explained
the details of the record-breaking event, which was held on the new
airport's number 1 runway, as follows: "Preparations took two months.
We started with a computer simulation because any hiccup in the flow
of the trucks would foil our effort.  We even had a special radio frequency
for the drivers to monitor.  We had mostly Turkish drivers, but Pakistanis
and Vietnamese ones, too."


    Our motto: "Killing Time Productively!"

The previous record of 416 trucks was set in Holland in 2004.  Guinness
record-keeper Prof. Dr. Orhan Kuran and other officials were on hand
to document the momentous event.


The new 3rd Istanbul Airport is under construction, upper left.

WW I POW's Prosthetic Arm Preserved

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 29 May 2017)


Ethem Yıldız holds his great grandfather's prosthetic arm.

Mehmet Çavuş of Sivas was a soldier at the Caucasus Front in eastern
Turkey during World War I when he lost his arm to shrapnel below the
elbow and was taken prisoner by the Russians.  While in a Russian
POW camp Çavuş was fitted with a prosthetic arm by a German doctor
and Çavuş's family has kept the arm in sacred trust all these years.

Ethem Yıldız (50), who lives in Ekincioğlu village in Sivas's Ulaş district,
explained that his great grandfather Mehmet Çavuş was captured by the
Russians in 1915 and spent seven years in a POW  camp.  Yıldız added that
"my great grandfather was taken prisoner at the Allahuekber Mountains
(site of the Battle of Sarıkamış in late 1914-early 1915).  A German doctor
made the prosthetic arm for him in POW camp.  When he returned to our
village 7 years later he had the arm and used it until he died in 1942.  My
uncle Adem kept the arm in trust.  I have assumed responsibility for its
preservation for the past 35 years and will do so until I die."

 
     Ulaş district is in central Sivas province.

Over-the-Top Unionization Effort

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 29 May 2017)


               We shall overcome (someday).

The Öz İplik Union, part of Hak-İş, decided to try to unionize the
workers at the Beks Sock and Underwear Factory in Çerkezköy,
Tekirdağ.  To accomplish this, union chief Murat İnanç assigned
the task of unionizing the 200 workers at the factory to Thrace
regional chief Mehmet Çakır.

Since Çakır doesn't work at the factory he could not enter the facility
so he resorted to addressing the workers through the fence with a
megaphone during the workers' tea breaks and lunch period.  Beks
took the union to court, as union chief İnanç explained: "when we
called to the workers through the fence with a megaphone Beks hung
a canvas on the fence to prevent this.  Faced with this obstacle, we
hired a winch to raise our organizer Çakır over the canvas.  But now
Çakır has been enjoined by the court from approaching within 100
meters of the factory."

İnanç asserted that the union's megaphone technique had lured many
workers to the union, although 17 of them have now been fired by Beks (!).
İnanç further declared that they have a constitutional right to unionize
and that the court's decision is unconstitutional.

Dunking Cars: A Trend is Born?

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 29 May 2017)

car dunking trend see this TNT report for a similar incident.


            Every great idea breeds copycats.

The night before last in Sariyer, Istanbul, Veysel K. and his wife Ayşe K.
were sitting in their car along the shore at Kireçburnu when an argument
broke out between them.  Veysel bey left the car in a huff and shortly
afterwards Ayşe hanım took off the emergency brake and pushed the car
into the Bosphorus  (!).

Ayşe hanım then got into a taxi and went home.  From the sunken car's
license plate, police were able to track down Ayşe hanım and took her
from her home to the Tarabya Şehir Kemal Aykut Genç police station.
Meanwhile, at the incident scene, police divers tried to determine
whether anyone was in the sunken car, in which were found beer bottles
and a baby's bottle, as well.

Ultimately, Ayşe hanım confirmed that her children were safe at home.
The car was lifted out of the Bosphorus with a winch and brought to
the police parking lot in Sarıyer.


 

PM's Residence Garden as Insect Battlefield

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 28 May 2017)


                       Tree Enemy No. 1

The Ministry of Forests and Water Affairs has initiated a war with the
"12-toothed bark insects" in the garden of the Çankaya Mansion and
the Prime Minister's Residence by unleashing red forest ants in the
garden.  In addition to destroying the unwanted pests, the red ants are
aerating the ground, improving drainage and moving seeds.


                Prime Ministerial battleground

A chemical "pheromone" is also being used against the 12-toothed pests.
When a pheromone is secreted into the environment it creates a special
reaction that prompts creatures of the same species to reproduce,
tempting the pests into a trap.  In the garden of the Çankaya Mansion,
41 pheromone traps, each 1.3 meters high, have been spread among the
trees.


       Red ants to the rescue!

As for the red ants, nests for them have been formed in the garden so
they can battle their enemy, which drills holes in the bark of the trees
and begins to eat away at the tree's cambium tissue layer.



Çankaya Mansion and Prime Minister's Residence (A)