"Beat & Release": COVID's Collateral Casualties Continue, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 31 July 2022)

You can recover from COVID. Stab wounds? Not very often.

In Ümraniye, Istanbul, Ahmet Ali İçmek caught COVID-19.  When his 

wife Hava then caught the illness, she blamed her husband for not 

maintaining mask and distancing precautions.  A fight ensued, joined by 

their son Birol İçmek, who took the knife in his father's hand and stabbed

him to death. 

Ali Ahmet bey (68) caught COVID a few days ago but when he didn't

wear a mask or keep a safe distance away, his wife Hava hanım became

annoyed and, on 27 July, Hava hanım caught COVID, too.  The couple

began to fight and their son Birol (28) entered the fray.  Ali Ahmet bey

grabbed a knife from the kitchen and threatened his wife and son. 

Birol was able to wrest the knife from his father's hand and stabbed him

twice in the neck and once in the chest, killing him.  Police arrived at

the house and arrested Birol. 

Fake "Secret Agents" Foiled by Their Poor Spelling, in Alanya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 July 2022)

Heiti saved from God knows what by spelling expert.

A spy-like caper to rival those seen in films occurred in Alanya district 

of Antalya province.  Five men entered the home of  Estonian Heiti 

Raag, wanted by Interpol with a "blue bulletin", and his wife Olga Raag,

identifying themselves as members of MIT (Turkish National 

Intelligence Organization).  The supposed MIT members asked Olga

where Heiti was and said that the couple had one hour to surrender

themselves. 

When Heiti could not be located the MIT "officials" - T.A. (54), İ.Y.

(58), Ş.T. (51), C.T. (43) and M.D.Ç. (32) -  took Olga to the

Gendermerie outpost, showed the sergeant on duty their "ID" cards

and claimed to be specially assigned to this mission by the Turkish

Presidency, showing the sergeant a search warrant signed by a 

"prosecutor with special authority".  

The "MIT 5" wanted the Gendarmerie commander to take Heiti and 

Olga into custody and hand them over.  However (!), the commander,

Col. Burak Mindivanlı, noticed some spelling errors in the paperwork

and when the identities of the "MIT 5" were researched it turned out

that C.T. has a police record of 30 crimes, including fraud and assault.

Also, the "special prosecutor" who signed the search warrant turned

out to be imaginary.

The Gendarmerie took the "MIT 5" into custody.  Suspect M.D.Ç. is

a lawyer registered in the Antalya bar and has acted as a lawyer for

Heiti Raag.  

                           Would-be Secret Agents

Commander Col. Mindivanlı personally went to the Mahmutlar 

Gendermerie outpost where the "MIT 5" had taken Olga and noticed 

how "cool" the suspects behaved even when their fraud

was being discovered: "the suspects were very calm even when 

handcuffed and kept on insisting that they were members of MIT.

They even wanted to call the governor.  But their paperwork was

very amateurish.  They wrote their real ID information on their 

fake MIT cards.  We think they wanted to squeeze the person 

being sought with the Interpol "blue bulletin" for money."

"Beat & Release": Thief Literally "Collared" , in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 July 2022)

                     Leaving so soon? What's the hurry?

Last week in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Yasin Ekin was sleeping in a chair in 

the living room of his flat when he was awakened by a sound coming

from the corridor.  Thinking his wife might have made the sound, Ekin

called to her but no response came.  Reaching the corridor, Ekin came

face to face with a thief holding a knife. 

Fearing that his wife might awaken and see the thief, Ekin pounced on

the robber, holding the arm with the knife.  A tussle ensued and 

continued from the corridor into the living room.  The thief got free from

Ekin and tried to escape via an open window.  However (!),  Ekin grabbed

the thief by the collar and held on for 15 minutes until the police arrived

at the scene.  

At that point, Ekin let go of the thief, who had climbed up the iron

grating on the windows of the floor below to reach Ekin's flat and

police arrested him.  Ekin explained that "it took about 10-15 

minutes for the police to come.  During this time, the thief pleaded 

with me to let him go but I said 'you have to drop the knife first'.

He didn't so I held on to him."

Iron window grating - thief's stairway to heaven.

"Beat & Release": Armed to the Teeth. Does He Know Something We Don't?

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 27 July 2022)

                        Seems to be expecting trouble.

Ahmet Sivri, the head of the Rizeliler Association (people hailing from

Rize on Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast), in Küçükçekmece, Istanbul, 

posted pictures of himself with swords and guns, along with videos of

him shooting the guns, on social media.  

Sivri's social media postings drew a sharp response, prompting police

to take him into custody the day before yesterday at around 5 o'clock 

in the evening.  Searches conducted in Sivri's home, workplace and the

Rizeliler Association's office turned up the swords and guns seen on

social media.  Five of the guns' licenses had expired.  Sivri was 

interrogated for crimes "contrary to the law regarding firearms, number 

6136" and released. (!) 

            Even a warrior gets hungry sometimes. 

Massacre by 10,000 "Ghost Nets" in Lake Hirfanlı

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 25 July 2022)

         Whatever happened to hook, line and sinker?

Teams from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests Fisheries and 

Maritime Products General Directorate have retrieved 10,000 "ghost

nets" from Lake Hirfanlı, located between Ankara and Kırşehir.  

Thousands of creatures were found dead in the nets.  

Director Altuğ Atalay explained that fishermen at the lake assisted his

teams, adding that "we expected to retrieve 300-400 nets from a lake

of this size, but finding 10,000 means that the entire floor of the lake

was covered with these nets.  We are clearing lakes of these nets all

over the country because they are so harmful to our economy and to the

creatures living in the lakes.  So far we have cleared 545,000 square

meters of  these nets.  With the 10,000 from Lake Hirfanlı, the total

number of "ghost nets" retrieved has reached 25,000.  We estimate 

that by doing this we have saved at least 1.7 million creatures from 

death. In the Sea of Marmara, we are clearing "ghost nets" covered 

with "müsilaj" (gunk) in many places, as well."

"Beat & Release": The Vacation From Hell for a Young Istanbul Woman, in Karasu

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 July 2022)

                 Not the relaxation she was hoping for. 

Ş.Ö. (20), who lives in Istanbul, went to Sakarya's Karasu district for a

vacation.  On the evening of 18 July, while she was walking home after

a stroll along the shore with some friends, a car driven by Talip Altındal

pulled up alongside her and Altındal verbally accosted her.  Frightened,

Ş.Ö. talked back to Altındal and took a picture of his car with her

cellphone camera.  When she said she would call the police, Altındal 

became enraged and tried to run over the young woman with his car.(!)

At this point, Ş.Ö. sought refuge in a nearby shop but Altındal followed

her into the shop and began to beat her viciously, screaming "you were

going to take my picture and file a complaint!".  He broke her cellphone,

as well.  Ş.Ö. found a chance to escape and fled to the street.  Meanwhile,

the shop's security camera had recorded the entire beating incident. 

                                 Vacation tour guide.

In the street Ş.Ö. was able to find refuge in a woman's car, as Altındal

emerged from the shop with a weapon in his hand, threatening everyone

in sight.  The woman in whose car Ş.Ö. found refuge took her to the 

police station to file a complaint about Altındal's verbal and physical

assault on her.  Altindal, the jobless father of 4 children (!), was 

tracked down and jailed.  As for Ş.Ö. and her spoiled vacation, she 

said "the 30 seconds you saw on the camera were like 30 years for

me." 

        Karasu's tourism committee has some work to do.

"Beat & Release": Rose Tattoo on Hand Fingers Motorcycle Thief, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 21 July 2022)

another self-inflicted tattoo click here for a previous

TNT story of a tattoo thief who met the same fate.

 

                     A rose bites the hand that fed it. 

M.E.G. lives in the İnönü neighborhood of Ataşehir, Istanbul and on 14

July his parked motorcycle was stolen.  The thieves called M.E.G. 

offering to sell his (!) motorcycle back to him for 12,000 TL (about 

$682) and M.E.G. agreed to the deal.  However (!), subsequently, 

M.E.G. went to the police station and filed a complaint. 

Police began their investigation by looking at street surveillance video

from the crime scene and noticed a tattoo of a rose on the hand of one

of the motorcycle thieves.  Comparing the rose tattoo with those in the

police archives, they identified R.A., who had been arrested many times

before for motorcycle thefts in the area.  R.A. was taken into custody 

(again!) in the Fındıklı section of Maltepe and after questioning he was

released (again!) on judicial supervision.  Police are now looking for 

R.A.'s partner-in-crime. 

"Beat & Release": Duck-napping Incident Settled With Nary a Quack, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 20 July 2022) 

                       You can lead a duck to water but...

Iraqi Zeynep El Zuheyri took some ducks from a pond in Istanbul's 

Başakşehir district and put them into a sack (!) creating quite a reaction

on social media.  It turns out that the ducks belong to Zeynep hanım

but she put them in the pond because her neighbors were complaining

about the noise they made at her home.  

The story began last Sunday when a video was shared on social media

of a woman taking ducks from a pond in Başakşehir and putting them 

into a sack.  Accusations flew around the internet that the woman stole

the ducks so police tracked down Zeynep hanım, took her statement 

and released her when it was understood that the ducks were hers in 

the first place. 

Zeynep hanım explained, "we raised the ducks at home but their 

noise disturbed the neighbors so we brought them to the pond. But 

the pond workers said we couldn't leave them there so we took them

back.  People there began to take videos. I told them they were my

ducks and not to take videos, but they did anyway.  Since the ducks 

were raised in the house we were told they would die at the pond. So

we will find a caretaker for them."

     

                   ...they'll miss the comforts of home.

"Chucky" Banished From Antalya Museum After Frightening Visitors

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 19 July 2022)

 The resemblance is less than uncanny. Own film series

unlikely.

A statue, nicknamed "Chucky" after the horror film character by 

workers at the Antalya Kaleiçi Ethnography Museum, depicts a crying

child being washed by her mother in a bath basin.  But because the statue

has frightened visitors it has been put in storage. (!)

The real "Chucky" doesn't cry.  He just makes others cry.

The decision to put the statue in storage has brought sculptor Tülay

Aktaş and the museum's directors into conflict.  Aktaş lamented that

"the statue depicts a 3-year-old girl crying while being bathed by her

mother. Wouldn't a child cry in a situation like that?  I tried to give the

statue a realistic depiction and took great care in doing so.  But it 

frightened some people and the workers even started calling it "Chucky"".

The "Chucky" horror film series of seven movies began in 1988 and

the films were shown in Turkey under the name "Child's Play".  The last 

one was shown in 2017 and a new one is expected to come out this year.  

           Squeamish visitors have their day.

Jackie Chan Filming in War-Torn Syrian Ghost Town

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 18 July 2022)

                              Syria's new Chinatown. 

The famous Chinese actor and director Jackie Chan is filming some of 

the scenes from his new action film in a war-torn section of Syria.  The 

subject of the film, though, is a rescue operation in Yemen. 

Chan is filming now in the Hacer el-Esved town near Damascus, which

was freed from ISIS control in 2018 and has been a ghost town ever 

since.  The film is about a Chinese operation to free its citizens held in

Yemen in 2015.  Chan is not starring in the film, just producing it.  His

decision to film in Syria was unexpected and his crew plans to complete

the filming there in a few days. 

                 He's been in the neighborhood before. 

One of the crew members, Rawad Shahin, explained that "we transformed

a war-torn area in Syria into a film studio.  To do so from scratch would

have been very expensive but here it's ready and at much less cost."  The

Chinese Ambassador in Syria visited the set, where there are many tanks

positioned, and put a sign reading "peace and love" in front of one of the

tanks.  

The film takes place in 2015 when hundreds of people from China and

10 other countries were rescued in the midst of the Yemen civil war in

"Operation House".  At that time, Chinese warships were in the region

battling pirates and effected the rescue, which was a prestigious 

accomplishment for China.  Actually, in the film, the name of the

fictitious country is "Poman".  As for Hacer el-Esved, since the Syrian

government took it back from ISIS in 2018, very few of its former

residents have returned. 

Hacer el-Esved (Hajar al-Aswad) is at bottom-center.

"Beat & Release": - Literally. Oversexed on an Overpass, in Istanbul

türkçe  links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 July 2022)

Overpasses used to be so romantic. Now, not so much.

In the Küçükyalı neighborhood of Maltepe, Istanbul, at around noon on

7 July, Bahaddin Ç. (26) suddenly ripped off his clothes and attempted

to rape a 25-year-old female university student on an overpass.  (!)

Bahaddin Ç. tried to take the woman's clothes off, too, but when she

screamed and other citizens approached he fled, put his clothes back on

and boarded a minibus. However, the police stopped the vehicle and took

Bahaddin Ç. into custody. 

In his statement to the police, Bahaddin Ç. explained that he had gone

to Küçükyalı to tour around and admired the woman he saw on the 

overpass: "She looked good to me so I went after her, taking my clothes

off as I ran and embracing her from behind.  We fell to the ground together

and I tried to take her clothes off, too.  My aim was to rape her. Because

of the heat, I made a bad decision. I'm regretful." (!)

Bahaddin Ç. was taken to the Kartal courthouse, brought before a judge

and jailed. 

                                           Küçükyalı (A).

"Beat & Release": Oxymoronic Sign in Adana: "Quiet, Hospital Zone"

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 July 2022)

                After this, it was "Dancing With The Scars".

The evening before last at a wedding hall in Sarıçam, Adana, two 

families got into an argument while dancing "halay" (folk dance in

a circle holding hands).  The argument grew into a fight, with both

sides attacking each other with rocks, bats, revolvers and knives. Five

people were wounded and transported to Çukurova University Medical

Faculty Balcalı Hospital, where the fighting resumed between members 

of the two families. (!)

A doctor was grabbed by the neck and was only rescued with great

difficulty.  The doctors and other health workers then locked themselves

in a room until police arrived.  

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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 July 2022)

At least they're in the right place if anyone gets hurt.

The evening before last at the emergency room of Çukurova State

Hospital in Adana, two women related to a patient got into a 

hair-pulling fight.  The women were separated, only with great 

difficulty (!), by police and the relatives of other patients. 

Also at Çukurova State Hospital, on 10 July at about 9 o'clock at 

night, a victim of a traffic accident was brought to the emergency

room but his relatives, claiming the injured person had not been

treated expeditiously, created an uproar and damaged the emergency

room.  One of the suspects, A.S.(S), was jailed. 

                   Where there's never a dull moment.

Ancient Urartu Language Will Live on Thanks to Fortress Watchman, in Van

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 13 July2022)

                                         Elif to the rescue!

Mehmet Kuşman (82) is a watchman at the Çavuştepe Fortress in Van, 

built by the Urartu civilization in 764-734 B.C.  Kuşman, who has been

the fortress's watchman for 59 years, is one of only seven people in 

Turkey who know the Urartu language and he is teaching it to his 

8-year-old niece Elif.

Kuşman retired in 2005 but remained at fortress's watchman, waking

at the crack of dawn and walking 25 kilometers to his post each day.

He acts as a guide for tourists and carves small stones with Urartu

inscriptions to sell.  

                        "They left out a comma here."

The other six people in Turkey who know Urartu are all older than

Kuşman.  In order to keep the language alive, he is passing it on to his

son Erzen Kuşman and niece Elif.   Erzen bey is one of Kuşman's 11

children and he works as the deputy director in the Van Social Security

Council office.  His father related that "Erzen, who is named after

Afif Erzen Hoca, was the only one of my children who showed any

interest in Urartu.  Since he was a child he would come to the fortress

with me and he learned some of it so then I started to teach it to him.

He has promised to teach it to Elif in order to keep the language alive."

Kuşman explained that "When I came back from military service in

the 1960s I  saw that some archeologists from Istanbul University 

were excavating the Çavuştepe Fortress so I joined in to help them.

Urartu inscriptions emerged from the excavations and over the years

I taught myself the language.  It was difficult to learn how to construct

a sentence but with the help of the experts I succeeded."

  

"Beat & Release": Ladies From the 'Stans' - Rough Times in Turkey

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 11 July 2022)

                      "Oh! olsun" (It serves him right). 

In Pamukkale, Denizli province, Özgür Günden (44) went to a hotel 

together with his girlfriend Sojida Kalandarova (27), a native of 

Uzbekistan, and her friend Sarvinoz Khairullaeva (23), who is from

Kyrgyzstan.  A jealousy argument erupted between Günden and 
Kalandarova.  When she refused to show Günden her telephone he

became enraged.  During the ensuing fight between them, Kalandarova

scratched Günden's face, prompting him to go to the reception desk,

where he had left a bag for safekeeping. 

Returning to the hotel room, Günden took out a thermos from the bag

and poured acid on both women.  As they screamed for help, Günden,

who had accidentally gotten some of the acid on his own face (!), fled

the hotel.  At the hospital, Khairullaeva was treated and released but

Kalandarova, with third-degree burns over most of her body was 

transferred to a hospital in Izmir, where she died in the intensive care

unit. 

As for Günden, he was tracked down by police at a relative's house in

Nazilli, in Aydın province, and jailed.  Günden had previously been

convicted of another murder.  He told police that "when I said she'd

cheated on me the argument grew more intense and she scratched my

face.  I lost control and got the lime drain cleaner and poured it on her.

I didn't know that it could cause burns (!).   I don't remember why I 

got it in the first place."

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

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 11 July 2022)

sacrificial mayhem click here for a TNT report 

more holiday bloodletting. 

                      There's no place like home Dorothyeva. 

On the first day of Kurban Bayramı (Feast of Sacrifice), E.Ö. went to

distribute meat from a sacrificial animal and was driving along the 

Sazlıdere Dam road in the Kayaşehir area of Istanbul's Başakşehir 

district when he saw a headless body alongside the road. (!) 

Police arrived at the scene and found the head of a woman about 10

meters away.  They determined that there were more than 20 stab

wounds in the woman's body.  The head and body were brought to

the police lab, where it was determined that they belonged to Nobar

Gafarova (51) of Turkmenistan.  Police are looking at street security

camera footage in an effort to determine the killer or killers. 

Sacrificial Slaughter: Site Restrictions Ignored, Butchers Cut to Pieces

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 10 July 2022)

"The sale and slaughtering of sacrificial animals in this 

place is absolutely prohibited."   Hmmmmmm.

For some time now designated places for slaughtering animals in 

celebration (!) of Kurban Bayram (Feast of Sacrifice)  have been made

available to the public in Turkey.  Nevertheless, some people still insist

on slaughtering animals in parks, on streets and even on the sides of 

autobahns.  In Sultangazi, Istanbul, despite a sign prohibiting the 

slaughter some people went ahead and did it anyway. 

In total, yesterday on the first day of the 4-day holiday, officials 

issued fines of 277 TL (about $16) to 130 people for slaughtering

animals in prohibited areas.  İbrahim Gül, who slaughtered his 

sacrifice in a park explained that "We brought the animal we bought

to this place because it's near our home.  The price we paid was high

but we have done our duty.  There are some kids here but they ought

not to be here.  Little kids shouldn't see this." 

In addition, yesterday more than 500 people went to hospitals in

Istanbul with cuts suffered during the slaughtering and the total 

countrywide outside of Istanbul was more than 5,000. (!) 

                                         Whoops!

"Beat & Release": Celebratory Wedding Gunfire - 4,000 Bullets and Two Deaths

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 8 July 2022)

          Maybe some traditions deserve a second thought. 

In Çorum, the trial of Murat Yılmaz (46) for causing the deaths of  his

friends Murat Şahin (38) and Emin Alparslan (44) when he fired his gun

randomly into the air at a wedding is continuing.  Of the 4,000 (!) bullets

fired at the wedding, 200 have been determined to have come from 

Yılmaz's gun.   In his defense, Yılmaz explained that "I pulled the trigger

once and it started firing continuously." (!)

The incident occurred last November in Tepekutuğun village in Çorum's

Bayat district.   As wedding guests danced in the village square, random

revolver and automatic rifle fire erupted in celebration.  However, some 

of the bullets hit guests Emin Alparslan and Murat Şahin.  Both were

taken first to İskilip State Hospital and then to Çorum Hitit University's

Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital, where despite all efforts 

they died. 

At Yılmaz's trial for causing the deaths of Alparslan and Şahin, it was

stated that of the 4,000 celebratory bullets fired, 200 came from Yılmaz's

gun.  Appearing at the trial in front of the judge for the second time,

Yılmaz pleaded innocent, asserting that "I just touched the trigger once.

Then it started to fire continuously. I'm innocent! I didn't commit the 

crime I'm accused of!"

Yılmaz's lawyer Derya Öztekin declared that "only" 200 of the 4,000

bullets came from Yılmaz's gun and it has not yet been proven 

conclusively that the bullets that killed the deceased came from his gun. 

Öztekin added that the witnesses at the trial are protecting themselves

and their relatives while hiding some truths. The trial is continuing. 

"Beat & Release": Mom's Heart Attack Prompts Son to Kill Cardiologist, in Konya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 7 July 2022)

                    Akçay's credo: First, do some harm. 

Hacı Mehmet Akçay (39), who worked as a security guard in Yunak 

State Hospital in Konya, took leave, complaining of back pains.

Akçay told his bosses that he was going to Akşehir State Hospital for

treatment because there was no orthopedic service at Yunak.  Instead,

though, Akçay went to Konya City Hospital at 1430 hours yesterday.

There, Akçay headed for the cardiology clinic and fired a gun at 

cardiologist Dr. Ekrem Karakaya (47), before turning the gun on himself

and committing suicide.  As Dr. Karakaya and Akçay lay bloody on the

floor, those who heard the shots called police.  Neither of them survived

the shots.

It turned out that Akçay's mother Kezban Akçay (58) had suffered a 

heart attack on 7 June and was transferred from Yunak to Konya City

Hospital, where Dr. Karakay treated her.  Nevertheless, Kezban hanım

died the next day.  Evidently, Akçay held Dr. Karakaya responsible for

his mother's death and killed him for that reason. 

Dr. Karakaya was born in Kayseri's Develi district and graduated from

Erciyes University Medical Faculty in 1999.   Two daughters, aged 8 and

7, survive him. 

Yunak is at top-center, Akşehir in center, Konya at 

bottom-right corner.