Nationwide "Pig-demic" Hits Turkey; People Mistakenly Shot Instead of Pigs

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 8 September 2020)

                              No mistake this time.

Over nine months in 2020 in Turkey, 9 people have been mistakenly 

shot by others who thought they were pigs (!).  Six of the nine died

and three were seriously injured.

Kocaeli, Gölçük district: on 11 January, Omer Gümüşoğlu (50) was

shot in the foot by pig hunters as he was gathering grass. As he 

writhed in pain and cried out, the hunters rushed to help Gümüşoğlu;  

Mersin, Çamlıyaylı district: on 3 June, Selami Çelik (71) and his 

friend Fikret Şahin (62) went hunting for pigs that invaded their 

field.  As the two friends searched separately for the pigs, Çelik

pointed his gun at a sound he heard, fired and killed Şahin;

Denizli: Nuri Acar (55) and his close friend Ömer Ali K. went pig

hunting at night on 6 June.  The two separated.  When Ömer Ali K.

thought he saw pigs he fired into the darkness, hitting and killing 

Acar;

Kastamonu, Cide district: on 3 August, Yakup Zengin (52) was on

lookout for pigs in his corn field.  In the darkness, he didn't realize

until too late it was his wife Fati Zengin (49) he shot and killed;

                         Never underestimate them.

Zonguldak, Devrek district:  on 24 July, İmdat Delieli (42) and 

Sezai Kadak (25) went out to scare away pigs roaming in their 

hazelnut orchard.  The two separated and Kadak fired his rifle

at sounds coming from the bushes.  He hit Delieli and in a panic

sought help from villagers.  Delieli, who was shot in the back,

survived;

Bartın, Karahüseyinli village; on 24 July, Hüseyin Gökçe (67)

thought he heard pigs in his garden so he shot at them from the

window of his house.  Investigating, Gökçe found his daughter-

in-law Gönül Gökçe (31) lying dead in a pool of her own blood;

Muğla: on 25 August, farmer Ali Yılmaz (25) was on the lookout

for pigs in his field and, thinking he heard them, he shot his wife

Zeliha Yılmaz, seriously wounding her.  In his statement, Ali bey

explained that "I went to keep a lookout for pigs in the field and

my wife stayed home.  But she got bored and came to the field to

see me.  Not knowing she had come, when I heard the noise I 

thought it was the pigs but shot her instead.";

Kırklareli, Demirköy district, Sislioba village:  on 31 August, 

Hayrettin Buğdaycı, the village chief, accidently shot his older 

brother Faruk Buğdaycı in the garden, thinking he was a pig;

Trabzon, Tonya district: on 4 September, retired teacher Ahmet

Aktaş (76)  fired his revolver from his balcony at what he thought

were pigs in his garden.  Instead, he shot his wife Havva Aktaş (73),

killing her.

                          A night out on the town.