Zeytinburnu Diary: Monkey, Marriage

monkey business links to original article

(Cihan News Agency, 30 April 2013)

Fugitive's moment of capture.

In the Nuripaşa neighborhood of Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, a monkey took
advantage of his owner's momentary lapse of attention and jumped
into a tree on 62/2 Street. The loveable monkey began to eat the
eggs in a crow's nest but when attacked by the mother crow he
sought refuge on the balcony of an adjacent apartment building.
When the apartment owner opened the balcony door the monkey
slipped into the house.

The loveable monkey leapt around the apartment for an hour as
residents tried to capture it and the monkey bit the hand of one
of its pursuers. The chase continued back on the balcony and
the homeowner gave the monkey some sugar to lure it in for capture.
The monkey's owner saw the activity from the street, came to the
apartment and nabbed the monkey.

The injured pursuer Sema Karabacak related the incident: "When
we came from the market it was in the tree eating the crow's eggs.
This didn't sit well with the crows, of course, so the monkey leapt
to the balcony and got into the house. Then it got into our place and
gave us the run-around. When I tried to catch it the monkey tore up
my hands. Then the owner came and took it away."

=============================================
marriage links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 29 April 2013)

Practice driving for his wedding day.

In Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, a thief who made his car look like a
bride's for robbery purposes was captured by police who became
suspicious. The police noticed Mert T. in a car with  a banner
that read "We're getting married. We're happy" where the license
plate should have been visible.

When police checked Mert T.'s background they found warrants
for his arrest on other robbery charges. There were materials for
committing robbery in the car, which was a rental. Police determined
that by hiding the plate number Mert T. thought he would be able
to avoid police scrutiny. Mert T. was arrested and taken to prison.

Turks Stuck in Kyrgyzstan Since 1944

stranded links to original article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 28 April 2013)

Show us the way to go home...

Black Sea Turks, who were exiled to Central Asia
from the Batumi area of Georgia six months before
the end of the Second World War by the Soviet
Union government, want to return to Turkey. The
1,527 Turks have lived in exile in Kok-Jar village of Nokat
district in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh province since
1944 and get along well with their Kyrgyz neighbors.

The Black Sea Turks keep the Turkish language, culture
and traditions alive among themselves and soothe their
homesickness with Turkish poems and folk songs. The
youth and the women know Istanbul Turkish very well.
By means of the dish antennas they have attached to their
rooves, they say they improve their Turkish by watching
Turkish soap operas and other TV programs.


The Turks earn a living by working in the animal-
breeding and agricuture sectors in Kok-Jar village.
They say they are happy in Kyrgyzstan but miss their
Turkish homeland. Muhammed Uzunoglu is the leader
of these Turks and he said he learned from his father
that between 40 and 50 percent of their population was
lost during and after the exile from Batumi.

Uzunoglu continued, saying that "they were expelled
because they were Turks and sent off in animal carts.
The trip was very difficult. Nearly half of them were
lost to hunger, cold and illness along the way. The
Russian soldiers insisted that the dead be left where
they died. No one knows whether they've been buried
or not."

Osh district toward the SW direction.

A Mailman's Torture on the Big Screen

mailman links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 26 April 2013)

Mailman turned screen star.

A mailman who lives in Kutahya has made a 27-minute
film about his profession to call attention to the hazards
of his work and to demand compensation for it. In the
film, dogs chase the mailman, he is beaten with a stick
by people he brings a court notice to, and a bucket of
water is poured on him from a balcony.

Mailman Nevzat Coban made an announcement to
journalists in front of the PTT Kutahya General
Directorate. He said that a local TV station helped
him shoot the film, the scenario for which he wrote
and starred in. Coban noted that being a mailman is
a tough job and in the film he tries to show this by
being chased by dogs, getting soaked by a bucket of
water from a balcony, having a brick fall on him
while searching for an address, getting shot in the
foot and beaten with a stick.

Coban asserted that the film will break the record for
views and he said that "walking in snow, rain and mud
isn't much like walking on a red carpet.I'm appealing
to the deputies who assign compensation for themselves.
For some of us retirement age is 60 and for those who
recently started work it's 65. Based on the law, the age
limit for mailmen is 55. Workers in our organization
who are 55 will have to stand in front of the retirement
door for 10 years. So where will these friends work
for those ten years?"

"Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow..."

Who Was That Masked Man!? E.T. Perhaps?

mask links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 25 April 2013)

Masked and unmasked.

Taxi driver Erhan B. (34) filed a complaint with the
Halkali, Istanbul, police on 25 February, saying that
he was mugged by four people who got into his cab
as customers. In his statement, Erhan B., who was
robbed of his cellphone and 800 TL, said that the
people he picked up spoke with a strange accent and
that their lips did not move in concert with their speech.

Police received similar complaints and began an
investigation into the 'silicon face' method. They
checked on professional firms that prepare specially-
made masks made of  'wax' or 'silicon' material in
a number of countries, in particular America and England.
The police then examined orders made over the internet
from Turkey for silicon masks.

Two suspects were identified and put under surveillance.
Just at the same time, police teams received an interesting
complaint from A.T. (29) who said that  on 28 February
three individuals beat himand stole masks that he had had
made overseas. A.T., who sells animation and some concept
materials over the internet, said in his statement that "I
purchased five silicon and wax masks that are just like
human faces from a foreign internet site and put them up
for sale on the internet. One E.T. (!) got in touch with me,
said he wanted to buy them and so we agreed to a price
of 40,000 TL."  

"At the Istanbul bus depot they threatened and beat me
in their car, taking the masks, 4,000 TL and my cellphone
from me. I only saved myself by jumping out of the
moving vehicle."  Police got the car's plate number from
A.T. and determined the gang's address. Four suspects
who had assumed different appearances in order not to
leave any trace of themselves, by purchasing the masks
from an overseas internet site for between 4,000 and
12,000 TL each, were tracked in connection with muggings,
robberies and lootings.

Police captured the suspects, whose use of the masks, which
are seen in Hollywood films, was a first for Turkey. The
masks seized from the suspects cannot be distinguished from
real faces and they were sent to the police criminal laboratory.
E.T. (28),F.S. (32), G.M. (30) and E.K. (26) denied any
criminal activity but the fingerprints and DNA samples
on the masks matched their own. The suspects were sent
to prison.
 

Autistic Kids are Atheists (!)

atheists links to original article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 23 April 2013)

Trust me on this one...

Sociologist Fehmi Kaya made an announcement in
connection with Autism Awareness Week, saying that
there are nearly 750,000 people in Turkey who show
signs of autism. Kaya stated that autistic children cannot
establish empathy and that "one of the basic characteristics
of autistic children is that the belief area, the God area, of
their brains is undeveloped, vacant."

Continuing, Kaya asserted that "there is a connection
between autistic children and atheists, naturally. German
scientists Erhard Neuberk and Klaus Deistung, along with
American scientist Ara Norenzayan, have conducted
research based on which they claim that autistic children's
belief side is undeveloped and, consequently, they have a
belief deficiency."

Kaya stated that researchers have established a parallel
by comparing autistic children with atheists. He added
that "they (researchers) claim that there's a parallel
between autistics and atheists and that atheism is a
different cultural version of autism. They claim, as well,
that because of their belief deficiency these children
show a resemblance to atheists. They assert this claim
by saying that 'autistics cannot establish empathy and
neither can atheists.'"

Sociologist Kaya said that "the point we assert is that
these children will reach a development point as the
result of their starting to develop socially and as a person.
At that point their belief dimension will naturally
develop, as well."

One Celebratory Bullet , One Tragic Mess

bad day links to related article

(Hurriyet Newspaper, 22 April 2013)

When a bad day gets even worse.

Elementary school teacher Erkan Karamese (35)
participated in a going-away party for  a friend
entering military service yesterday in Sindirgi
district of Balikesir province. During the party,
a relative of Karamese, Expert Sergeant A.K.(24),
who came to the party on leave from his unit in
Tekirdag, took out his gun and fired into the air in
celebration.

One of the bullets, however, ricocheted and hit
Karamese in the chest, seriously wounding him.
He was taken by ambulance to Bigadic State Hospital.
After initial treatment there, the decision was made to
take Karamese to a better-equipped hospital so
an ambulance driven by Emergency Health Technician
Tugba Ozlen set out to take  Karamese to Balikesir.

En route, however, the ambulance had an accident
with a truck on the bridge of the Simav stream at
the Bigadic Cevizli marker. Karamese died in the
accident and driver Ozlen, Dr. Irfan Gurutku,
nurses Kubra Ayvaz, Ayse Ozturk and Karamese's
wife Zuhal Karamese were all injured, as was the
driver of the truck, Enes Deniz. All were taken to
a hospital and Ozlen's condition is serious.

Sindirgi is Balikesir's southernmost district.

Imam Steals Wife, Stand-in Bears Hubby's Wrath

imam links to original article

(Sabah Newspaper, 20 April 2013)

Romeo imam and his mosque.

The bewildering incident occurred in Karahayit
village of Dalama town in Aydin province on friday
last week...

Imam M.O., who was assigned temporarily to the
village about 4 months ago, convinced a married
woman from Aydin city, whom he met on Facebook,
to run away with him. The two lovers made their
escape on 9 April, hiding in the mosque where the
imam serves.

The woman's husband tracked her down and he came
to the village mosque last friday during prayer time.
The husband started to shout "where's the iman who
kidnapped my wife?!" The congregation was in shock
as the husband walked toward the imam reading the
sermon of the day and shouted "this no-good kidnapped
my wife and left my two children motherless. None of
you can listen to him. The prayers he says are worthless."

Since imam M.O. was on leave that day another imam,
Mustafa Sahin, was presiding so he and the congregation,
after overcoming their initial shock, tried to calm the
irate husband by explaining the situation. Learning that
M.O. and his wife were elsewhere, the angry husband
got into his car and left.

M.O. has been missing since the day of the incident. But
when the congregation learned that he had hidden the
woman in the mosque they rose up in anger. Village
chief Mehmet Erdem said that the village was now
shunning the mosque. He added that he has applied to
the authorities to have M.O. removed from duty.

Because of the scandal, the provincial religious directorate
has started an investigation, at the behest of the Aydin
governor's office.

What happens in Dalama...