"Beat & Release": Star USA Basketball Player Injured When Trailer Falls on His Car, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 30 April 2023)

   In basketball, this is known as "setting a hard screen".

In Bakırköy, Istanbul, yesterday at about 12:30 in the afternoon, the 

trailer of a TIR (tractor trailer) driven by Sina Özer, hit an overpass

and fell off its bed and onto a car driven by Anadolu Efes basketball

player Bryant Dunston (36).  (!) 

Dunston (who is from Queens in New York City) was stuck in his car 

and injured.  Firefighters and medics arrived to free the "pivot" (he 

plays the center position on the team).  TIR driver Özer explained

that "the height was written as 4 meters but the trailer hit the top of

it and fell on the car behind.  Thank God, the fellow in the car wasn't

badly hurt.  We got him out through the back door.  He sat down and

spoke with someone who took a cellphone video of the accident. His

condition is not serious, just a bit of blood on his face."

Anadolu Efes issued a statement about the accident, noting that 

Dunston was under observation in the hospital, along with a 

"Geçmiş olsun Kaptan!" (get well soon Captain!). 

Driver Özen explaining what happened to his boss: 

"Beat & Release": Drunken Somali on THY Flight Got Rowdy, Now Being Expelled for Good

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 29 April 2022)

            Oh for the days of glamorous air travel. Sigh...

Turkish Airlines flight TK-646 from Istanbul to Mogadishu, a Boeing 

737-8 MAX-type aircraft with tail number TC-LCK, departed Istanbul

Airport at 2 o'clock in the morning yesterday.  After the flight entered

Egyptian air space a drunken Somali passenger began to bother the other

passengers, prompting the cabin crew to warn him to behave himself.

However (!), the Somali passenger attacked one of the cabin crew 

members so he was handcuffed with plastic ties.  The pilot decided to

make an emergency landing at Antalya Airport, where the Somali

was taken into custody and sent to Istanbul for processing for expulsion

from Turkey. 

"Beat & Release": Another Case Where "I Don't Speak Turkish" Would Have Forestalled Fraud, in Bursa

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 28 April 2023)

             When they call, forget your native language.

In Bursa's Nilüfer district, Prof. Dr. Ahmet T. (77), who lives alone, 

received a phone call last year from someone identifying himself as

"MIT officer Levent Akçay" (MIT is the Turkish National Intelligence

Organization) who told the professor "there are moles inside the banks

and we need you to help us catch them."  (!)

In response, Prof. Ahmet T. put 1,979 pieces of gold in a bag and gave

the bag to a person at a local children's park, as instructed.  The suspects

contacted Prof. Ahmet T. again and told him not to go to the police. In

addition, they instructed him to withdraw 400,000 Euros from his bank

account and bring it to them.   However, the professor's siblings came to

his home, read the related messages on his WhatsApp phone system

while Prof. Ahmet T. was sleeping and called the police. 

Subsequently, police arrested Ahmet Laçin (38), Mehmet Emin Kırboğa

(34), Mehmet Sinan Güler (34) and Funda G. (35).  In all, six suspects

were taken into custody, one of them a woman (Funda G.), who was

freed by the court.  The five other suspects' incarceration continues. 

"Beat & Release": Psychiatrist's Murderer's Sentence Still a Lifetime Away, Five Years Later

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 27 April 2023)

                          Swift justice hits a speed bump.

On 2 October 2018 Serhat Tunçdemir (22) shot and killed his 

psychiatrist Fikret Hacıosman (57) in Bahçelievler, Istanbul.   In 2021 

a court in Bakırköy sentenced Tunçdemir to "severe life imprisonment" 

for intentionally killing Hacıosman.  However, the court reduced the 

sentence to just "life imprisonment" (!). 

On appeal, the higher court "Yargıtay" voided the sentence, saying

that Tunçdemir did not devise a plan to kill Hacıosman and that he ought

to be punished for the crime of "deliberately killing someone who was

simply performing his public duty."  (Hacıosman's writing the 

prescription).  

At the hearing of the renewed case in the Bakırköy court, the plaintiff's

lawyer Meriç Eyüboğlu stated that "the suspect went and got a gun,

put his phone on 'airplane mode' and since he knew that there was an

x-ray machine at the front entrance to the hospital, he came in the back

way.  He waited for the doctor, who was having lunch.  All of this shows

that he planned the murder.  We demand that the original sentence be

enforced."

The public prosecutor asserted, based on his investigation, that 

Tunçdemir left school and decided to kill the deceased because he

thought that the medicine the doctor prescribed wasn't working.  

Tunçdemir then went to his home and took his father's gun before

going to the hospital.  Nevertheless, the prosecutor asserted that

Tunçdemir's actions did not meet the criteria for "devising a murder 

plan" but that he deserved to get the "severe life imprisonment"

sentence for "deliberately killing someone who was simply performing

his public duty" (writing a prescription).  

The court postponed the continuation of the case to a later date. 

Girls Play Football to Avoid Being Married Off Too Young, in Muş

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 26 April 2023)

                                       You go girl!

The Yağmur Spor Womens Football Team was established in 2013 in 

Muş with the aim of preventing girls from being married off at an early

age.  Now, the team has reached the championship tournament of the 

Women's Third League.  Club founder and president Haldun Bayrak 

noted, "we've been able to let the girls play football and realize 

their dreams of going to a university, saving them from being married 

off at too young an age."

Bayrak, retired and the father of three children, founded the Muş 

Yağmur Spor Women's Football Club with limited resources to 

forestall young girls from being married off.  Until now, 48 girls who

played for the team have gone off to universities, where they play 

various sports.  Right now the team has 28 players and has become 

the champion of the 19th Group of the Turkey Football Federation

Women's Third League.  The team is guaranteed a playoff spot and

preparing to move up to the Second League. 

With regard to the team's expenses, Bayrak explained that "with my

retirement salary I meet the team's needs but sometimes I have to 

get credit from a bank.  I've dedicated all my 46 years to sports. Our

girl footballers come out to play whatever the weather may be and

now they have deservedly reached the championship.  This shows

that football isn't just for boys.  If we support our girls there's nothing

they can't accomplish.  There are about 150 women's football teams in

Turkey and we will do everything we can to advance women's 

football in our region."

"Eat & Release": Camel Snatches a Little "Osama" by the Head and Neck, in Denizli

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 25 April 2023)

     Osama didn't even have to walk a mile for this camel.

Last Saturday at the zoo in the Çamlık Mesire Alanı park in Denizli,

while eight-year-old Basın Osama was visiting the camel area with

his family he got too close to one of the camels and was picked up two

meters high by the head and neck by the beast. (!)

Bystanders screamed at the sight and one of them rescued the little

Osama from the camel's mouth.  The little boy was taken to a 

hospital and is in good condition.  

              Suspect's statement to police: "What?"

Zoo officials stated that "although it is forbidden, a child approached

too close to the camel while his family was elsewhere.  The camel

suddenly snatched the child by his head and neck.  Our workers called

112 (Turkey's 911) and the situation was resolved."

No relation.

"Beat & Release": Celebratory "Tired Bullets" Kill Two Guests, in Şanlıurfa and Çorum

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 24 April 2023)

How about just clapping your hands and shouting "congrats!". 

In Şanlıurfa's Birecik district the evening before last, people started firing

guns in the air to celebrate a circumcision ceremony.  However, one of the

"yorgun mermi" (tired bullet) that fell back toward the ground hit invited

guest Abdullah Akcan in the head, killing him. (!) 

Meanwhile, in Alancık village of Çorum's Mecitözü district, also the 

evening before last, Ozan Özşahin (36), who was attending a wedding

was hit by a "yorgun mermi" behind his ear and he died, as well. (!)

The Gendarmerie is working to determine who was firing guns in both

incidents.  

"Beat & Release": Famous Turkish Football Celebrities Among Victims in $80 Million Bank Swindle

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 April 2023)

                            Smiling faces sometimes...

Seçil Erzan, the office director of a private bank, has been arrested on 

charges of swindling many famous people, including luminaries from

the football world, out of $80 million. (!) 

According to news in Oksijen newspaper, Seçil hanım worked at a

private bank in Florya, Istanbul, for a while and there she took care of 

banking affairs for a number of individuals associated with the 

Galatasaray football team, earning their trust.  Subsequently, she was 

appointed as the chief of the Büyükdere branch of the bank and sought 

out  wealthy depositors of the bank with this pitch: "we've formed a 

private fund system with which you can earn large amounts of money.  

We're keeping it secret but however much you put into it your payback 

will be commensurate."  

As a result, many wealthy people sent Seçil hanım money and for a

while they got good returns. Word spread and more investors sent her

money, sometimes bringing it to her in handbags.  Last November,

a businessman brought her $5 million (!) he collected from friends

in a handbag but since this businessman had been robbed once before 

he put a GPS chip in the handbag.  In any case, he told Seçil hanım 

about the GPS chip. 

Based on the GPS tracking data, the handbag remained in the bank for

half a day, after which it went to Lotus Sitesi in Sarıyer, Istanbul, and

following that to Istanbul Airport, returning to the Lotus Sitesi address

that same evening.   According to this businessman's claim, the handbag

had been delivered to former Galatasaray football player Semih Kaya.

When the businessman told his contributing friends what happened 

they warned him that he may have been a victim of fraud. 

The businessman called Seçil hanım and asked for his money to be 

returned to him.  In response, she said that since the fund's time period

had not yet been fulfilled she could not give it back and instead sent 

him a bank document to this effect.  This prompted the businessman to

file a complaint with the public prosecutor.  Seçil hanım's "fund"

stalled and, let alone profit, she couldn't even return the principle given

to her by investors, who got in line to file their own complaints with the

prosecutor.  

Ultimately, police raided Seçil hanım's home in Göktürk, Istanbul,

near Istanbul Airport and after interrogation, she was put in jail.  

Others hoodwinked by Seçil hanım included famous football 

celebrities including Fatih Terim ($10 million), Arda Turan (8 million

Euros), Fernando Muslera, Semih Kaya and Selçuk İnan.  Police are

now trying to determine whether Seçil hanım implemented the fraud

alone or with others. 

Among Seçil hanım's book of quotes: "There's no such thing as

someone not succeeding because they wanted too much. We

must focus on what we're aiming at." (!) 

"Beat & Release": Dearborn MI, "Arab Capital of NA", Gives Its Workers Ramazan Holiday Paid Day-Off

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 21 April 2023)

                      TGIF in spades, in Dearborn. 

The Dearborn municipality in Michigan USA had approved the Ramazan

holiday as an official holiday.  Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, 

who is originally from Lebanon and who was elected in 2021, made the

announcement, saying "we believe that in Dearborn, where we have 

tried to have an inclusive and varied workforce, it is essential to 

recognize the belief traditions and holidays of everyone.  All concerned

are happy about this and they feel well represented."

Dearborn is the first municipality in the USA to give a paid holiday to

its workers on the first day of the Ramazan holiday.   The city of 110,000

people is known as the "Arab Capital of North America" and half the 

population hail from Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq.  The

city has the largest mosque in the USA. 

"Turkish Town"  see this recent TNT item about Paterson NJ. 

"Beat & Release": Alimony Pain Prompts Actor to Sue Ex-Wife "Living Life of Luxury"

 (Hürriyet Newspaper, 20 April 2023 - online version unavailable)

                   In happier days, B.A. (before alimony) 

Actor Fikret Kuşkan has filed a suit against Bahar Kerimoğlu, whom

Kuşkan divorced 14 years ago, to have his 47,000 TL ($7,500) monthly 

alimony payment to her reduced, asserting that Bahar hanım is living a

life of luxury with his money. (!) 

The couple's 15-year-old child is in Bahar hanım's custody.  Kuşkan's

lawyer Bahar Varol stated that "my client has two children from a

second marriage so he's having great difficulty supporting them as well

as the third child."  Lawyer Varol noted during the first hearing of the 

case that "the defendant mother lives a life of luxury.  The meal and 

course expenditures she declares are not realistic and does a 15-year-

old child need to take a vacation every month?!"  The court extended 

the case to await hearing from Kuşkan's witnesses. 

Bahar hanım's favorite book...

"Beat & Release": He Wants Retroactive Forgiveness From Wife He Stabbed, in Bursa

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 19 April 2023)

           Puppy love. What could possibly go wrong?

In Bursa, Kenan Yılmaz (42) and Yüce Can Yılmaz (39) got married 

three years ago but they decided to separate in 2022.  On 16 January,

though, they got together at Kenan bey's home in Mudanya.  In the

ensuing argument (!), Kenan bey beat and stabbed Yüce Can hanım

six times in her midsection and calves.  

Kenan bey was arrested and Yüce Can hanım went to a hospital for

treatment.  At his trial Kenan bey explained that "when she insulted

me I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and started stabbing her.  At

one time she injured me with scissors and I forgave her so she ought

to forgive me now." (!) 

For her part, Yüce Can hanım said in court that "when I came in the

house he hit me, knocking my glasses off my face.  As I bent down to

pick up my glasses he started stabbing me. He didn't get the knife from

the kitchen, he had it on him.  I knew this because it wasn't one of the

knives kept in the house.  He stabbed my right calf 4 times, my left

calf once and my liver once.  That day I did not curse at him nor did

I speak the words he attributed to me."

The public prosecutor charged Kenan bey with "intent to murder his

wife" and asked for a life sentence.  The court committee decided to

continue Kenan bey's incarceration and postponed the hearing until

the defendant mounted a defense. 

"Beat & Release": Deviant's Bad Behavior "Escalated" at Ankara Shopping Center

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 18 April 2023) 

         He only ever takes the "up" escalator. Hmmmmm. 

Mustafa K. (30) was caught taking obscene photographs of lawyer 

Ş.M.E. (26) with his cellphone on an escalator in a shopping center in 

Çankaya, Ankara, last year. (!)  Mustafa K. was taken into custody but

released and ordered not to leave his home.  His phone was seized, as

well. 

A police examination of Mustafa K.'s cellphone revealed hundreds of

such obscene photos taken of women on escalators and child pornography,

too, for which the prosecutor asked for a 15-year sentence.  As for the

case involving him and Ş.M.E., it was sent to a mediator but the parties

could not reach an agreement so Mustafa K. was charged with "violating

an individual's right to privacy", which calls for a sentence of up to 4.5

years in jail.  

Mustafa K. admitted his crimes in court, saying "I took the pictures 

that were seized from my cellphone.  I beg forgiveness from those who

have complained."  The case has been postponed until some shortfalls

have been addressed.

As for Ş.M.E., she explained that "on the escalator, I felt something cold

on my leg, so I realized what was happening.  Anymore I stand backwards 

on escalators and I'm always in a panic about people taking pictures, 

thinking they're taking them of me.  When I tell others about the incident 

they say 'what were you wearing?', as if to blame me for the incident!  

If we can't walk freely must we stay home all the time?"

"Beat & Release": Police Posse Tracks Down Istanbul's "Dalton Gang"

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 17 April 2023)

                             Joy-riding, minus the joy. 

Last week Istanbul police launched an operation against a gang directed 

by crime baron Barış  Boyun, who was taken into custody and jailed in

Italy, and 131 out of 161 "wanted" members of Boyun's gang were 

arrested.   Related searches at the suspects' addresses yielded 7 

Kalashnikov rifles, two Thompson automatic pistols, 72 unlicensed 

revolvers, two "anahtarlık" (key chain)-type assassination revolvers, 6

hunting rifles, two bullet-proof vests and about 1 kilogram of narcotics.

In the course of the police investigation, the suspects serving Boyun and

known as "The Daltons" (!), were found to have actively used social 

media to recruit new members and some of the related images came to

light.  For example, the suspects, holding long-barreled rifles and standing

in the open roofs of luxury cars, proceeded along Istanbul streets in a 

convoy.  This video was used to intimidate rivals.  

Barış Boyun, whose first name, ironically, means "peace" (!)

The gang members were involved in the killings of Cumali Aslan in a 

shootout on the Haliç (Golden Horn) Bridge; a Koran course teacher in

Kağıthane named Ramazan Aslan; Yasin Keskin in front of the Ruby 

nightclub in Beşiktaş; Serb mafia leader Jovan Vukotic in Şişli; and 

Yüksel Ustahüseyin, the leader of a fan group for Kasımpaşa Spor 

football club.  Altogether, the gang perpetrated 103 crimes in Istanbul

using stolen cars and motorcycles with masked riders.  

Boyun's gang had either individuals or groups commit the crimes in 

return for money.  Some of the killings involved drug turf wars and 

others were intended to intimidate other gangs. 

        Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

"Beat & Release": Fake Police Kidnap Lebanese Businessman But Get Stung, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 April 2023)

Just acting out their boyhood dreams of being policemen.

Lebanese businessman Jaafar Sannan W. lives with his Iranian wife

Golshan N. in a flat in Beyoğlu, Istanbul.  A few days ago four people

wearing police uniforms came to their apartment building, claimed to

be policemen and asked security guard Müjdat B. whether or not the

businessman was in his flat at that time. 

Müjdat B. told the four that Jaafar Sannan W. was not at home so

they gave him a phone number to call when the businessman came

home.  Last Thursday night at 2200 hours the four came to the building

again, entered the businessman's flat, roughed him up and put a gun to

his mouth.  They took a safe containing $30,000 and handcuffed the

businessman, bundling him into their car.

The kidnappers called Golshan N. and demanded a ransom for her 

husband.  She immediately called the (real) police, who set up a sting

in the building's parking lot after Jaafar Sannan W. had been let go,

capturing Orhan Aşkın and Serkan Dündar, who were jailed, and

Dinçer S., who was released on judicial supervision.  Halil A. and

Macedonian Orhan L., who were involved in the kidnapping, remain

at large.  

"Beat & Release": 'Bastinado' Aficionado Gets Two Year Jail Term, in Kayseri

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 April 2023) 

       "Director" Erkan T.  readying a video production. 

Erkan T., the married father of two children who works at a cargo 

company in Kayseri's Melikgazi district, invited down-on-their-luck

women to his home, blindfolded them, handcuffed their feet and tied

them with scarves before smacking their bare feet with a stick in the

"bastinado" torture technique (known in Turkish as "falaka"). (!)

Erkan T. gave the women 500 TL or 250 TL depending on their looks

and sent the videos he took to other women.  However (!), a woman

named N.K., who received a "falaka" invitation from Erkan T., 

informed the public prosecutor and Erkan T. was taken into custody,

but released.  

Now, though, he has been given a 2 year 1 month sentence for 

"obscenity", which was reduced because of his "good behavior" (!), by

the Kayseri court.   In another case brought against Erkan T.for "cruelty 

to his wife" he was acquitted because of a lack of evidence. 

Erkan T.'s wife H.K., who did not file a complaint against her husband,

explained that "he didn't force me to do anything.  He had me watch

a video and asked me to let him take a similar video of me.  At first

I said no but then I relented.  For a change of pace we did it, like a 

fantasy.  He tied my feet in the 'falaka' style but I only pretended to 

feel pain.  I really didn't feel any pain.  I would have said so if I did.

I didn't see my husband do this to any other woman.  He didn't tell

me that he had posted videos to make money. I don't have a complaint

against him."

                          Not all traditions are good.

 

  

"Beat & Release": Physiotherapist's Visits to Crippled Drug Baron, on the Lam for 10 Years, Fingered Him, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 13 April 2023)

Çetinkaya getting the "kargatulumba" treatment (carried

by arms and legs) en route to the courthouse. 

Drug baron Örfi Çetinkaya (74) was born in Malatya's Pütürge district in 

1949. He was on the "wanted" list during the 12 September 1980 military 

coup and on 18 May 1988 he was shot while trying to flee from police, 

paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet.  

Nevertheless, Çetinkaya continued his narcotics activities but he was

caught with 3 kilograms of morphine in Silivri, Istanbul, in 1989 and

incarcerated.  Six months later he was released from jail (!) but arrested

again two years later in connection with 46 kilograms of heroin found

in Spain - however, he was released after giving a statement (!). 

In 2000 Çetinkaya was arrested as part of "Operation Matador" and 

jailed until 2003.  But on 5 November that same year, he and others

were arrested in "Operation Last Tango" with 577 kilograms of ascetic

anhydrate, 159 kilograms of morphine base and 617 kilograms of heroin.

A year later Çetinkaya's partner Cemal Nayır was shot with a Kalashnikov

rifle and paralyzed like Çetinkaya - Nayır blamed Çetinkaya for the

attack. 

Çetinkaya has always wanted to be the center of attention.

For health reasons, Çetinkaya was released from prison in 2012 but the

next year a court ordered him to be imprisoned for 24 years.  By this

time, though, Çetinkaya had disappeared and it was assumed he had

fled abroad.  But he kept up his narcotics dealing -when 103 kilograms

of heroin were seized by police in Artvin on 5 May 2013 police linked

the deal to Çetinkaya.  Another seizure of 159 kilograms of heroin in

Rize that same year was tied to him, too.  

In recent years, Çetinkaya's name has been mentioned in the same 

breath as that of his partner, Iranian drug dealer Naci Zindaşti, and out 

of 5 tons of heroin seized in an operation, 2.2 tons were said to belong 

to Çetinkaya.  Fugitive prosecutor Zekeriya Öz was allegedly bribed

by both Zindaşti and Çetinkaya, who had lived on a large farm in 

Arnavutköy, Istanbul, until 2004.  There, he showered money and 

gifts on the local populace to win their loyalty and affection. 

Reminiscent of Osama bin Laden's villa capture caper.

Police got a tip a year ago that Çetinkaya, missing for 10 years, was

secretly living in a villa in either Zekeriyaköy or Uskumruköy villages

in Sarıyer, Istanbul.   Police focused in on a villa in Zekeriyeköy and

noticed that one person, in particular, came to the villa regularly so 

police checks were arranged and suspect A.Ö, a physiotherapist, was

identified.  

A subsequent police raid on the villa resulted in the arrest of Çetinkaya 

and five Afghans.  After processing at a police station, Çetinkaya was

brought to court in an armored police van where he gave his defense

for charges stemming from drug dealing in Artvin and for insulting 

former Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan.  Ultimately, Çetinkaya was

made to serve the 24-year sentence resulting from "Operation Last

Tango" and sent to Metris Prison in Istanbul. 

"Beat & Release": Turkish "Bully" Stabs Imam in Paterson NJ, Also Known as "Turkish Town"

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 12 April 2023)

Hoping to star in "Zorba the Paterson Turk", as sequel to...

Sayed El-Nakib (65), the imam at Ömer Mosque in Paterson, New Jersey, 

in the USA was stabbed in the back as he said prayers at the mosque on 

the morning of Sunday, 9 April.  The attacker was caught by other 

congregation members and identified as Şerif Zorba (32, whose surname 

means "bully" !).

Imam El-Nakib sustained two stab wounds in his lungs and is receiving

treatment at a hospital.  Assailant Zorba came to the USA recently and

appeared at a hearing the day before yesterday via video link, and with

a translator, from the jail where he is being held.  Zorba rejected the 

charge of  "attempted murder".  

Local press in Paterson reported that Zorba had been attending the 

Mevlana Mosque, rather than the Ömer Mosque, since the beginning

of the holy month of Ramazan a couple of weeks ago.  Hasan Ören,

the imam at Mevlan Mosque, stated that "he'd been coming to our 

mosque for 15 days and seemed normal. He would just pray and leave."

Paterson has a Moslem population of 30,000 out of 150,000 and is 

known by the nickname "Turkish town".  The prosecutor handling

Zorba's case is Bülent Can, also a Turk, and he said that Zorba could

get up to 26 years in prison.  Another Turk, İbrahim Bayçora, was

appointed as the Paterson police chief in February 2020 but he was

relieved of duty in September 2022 by the mayor because of a 

sharp increase in crimes in the city and accusations that he fell asleep

at meetings (!). 

"Beat & Release": Arrested and Released 3 Times, He's Re-arrested in Murder of African Student, in Karabük

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 11 April 2023)

                       Fourth time's not his charm.

Jeannah Danys Dinabongho İbouanga (17), known to her friends as "Dina",

was a student at Karabük University, preparing to study in the school's

machine engineering department, before her body was found in the 

Filyos stream on 26 March.  In the course of the related murder

investigation of the Gabon native Dina, 8 individuals, 3 of them 

foreigners, were taken into custody.  Following interrogations, 3

of the 8 were released on judicial supervision. 

Last week, Dursun Acar, whose car Dina rode in, was taken into custody

3 times but released by the court each time.  However, the Karabük 

public prosecutor objected and Acar was taken into custody for a 4th

time, based on new evidence, and arrested as a "strong suspect".

While being taken to a hospital for a health check, Acar was asked by

reporters "did you kill Dina?", to which he replied "I didn't do it. I took

her into my car, thinking she was hurt, and then she got out of my car. 

There's nothing else. I didn't kill her."  But when leaving the hospital

Acar was asked "why did you take Dina into your car?".  In reply, he

answered "an injured girl lept in front of my car so I took her in so 

that I could take her to a hospital."

"Beat & Release": Fickle Finger of Jealousy Bites, in Denizli

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 10 April 2023)

                Wrong finger, but we get the message. 

In Denizli, Emine S. (51), the mother of two children, learned that for 

two months Serpil Gündüz (44) had been living with her ex-husband

Mehmet K.  Last year, on 8 December, Emine hanım went to Gündüz's

home and cursed and attacked her when she opened the door.  Serpil

hanım saw that Emine hanım had bitten her left index finger and she

claimed that Emine hanım's sister Fadime Gül S. (45) attacked her, too.

A case has been opened against the sisters for "injuring a woman" and

"threats and insults made against a woman", with sentences of up to 2

years in jail requested.  Serpil hanım, whose finger nearly came off but 

was saved by treatment, lamented that "she's been harassing me for 

months.  My psychology is upside down.  I got two restraining orders

against Emine S."