After 27 Years at Atatürk, His New Home is Sabiha Gökçen

Türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 27 October 2019)


"gym rat" at Atatürk click here for a 2018 TNT report
about a fellow with NBA hoop dreams who settled
into Atatürk Airport.



    Plenty of leg-room in waiting lounge class.

Bayram Tepeli (53) left his home in Gemlik, Bursa, 27 years ago to
find work in Istanbul.  He got a job with a cleaning firm and was
assigned to Atatürk Airport in İstanbul.  A blood clot in Tepeli's left
leg forced him to leave work - but not Atatürk Airport.

For 27 years (!) Tepeli lived at Atatürk, with the support of the
workers there who gave him money for food, as he slept on the waiting
room benches.  But Atatürk closed on 5 April this year so Tepeli took
up residence in Sabiha Gökçen Airport, on Istanbul's Anatolian side. (!)
Just like at Atatürk, the SGA workers provide support to Tepeli, who
thinks his life should be made into a movie.



                 Ready for the sequel?

Although Tepeli is an "airport rat" he has never been on an airplane
because of his fear of heights.  On sunny days he tours around Istanbul
and would like to see the new Istanbul Airport one of these days.