"Bleed & Release": Two Russians Caught Smuggling 5,000 Leeches into Turkey at Istanbul Airport

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 20 November 2024)

Customs guy should have taken leave that day (yuk!).

On 18 November at Istanbul Airport customs officials x-rayed

a suitcase belonging to two Russian citizens and found 5,000 

live medicinal leeches (!) in two traveling bags.  Local animal 

protection officials in nearby Arnavutköy district were notified 

and found that the Russians did not have proper documentation

for the creatures, which are protected under the CITES 

(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 

Wild Fauna and Flora) Agreement.

Consequently, all 5,000 leeches, weighing 8.34 kilograms, 

were seized and the two Russians were fined 2,624,816 TL

(about $76,000) for trying to import the leeches into Turkey

illegally. 

None of the 5,000 leeches had work permits for 

Turkey either!

"Beat & Release": Wild Celebration Upon Inmate's Release from Jail, in Adana

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 18 November 2024)

       Might just go back in after "celebration".

A prisoner just released from jail in Adana celebrated in the 

streets of the 19 Mayıs Mahallesi neighborhood of the city's

Yüreğir district with his friends and relatives, setting up a 

sound system for music, lighting torches and firing guns into

the air (!). 

The mayhem was posted on social media (of course), prompting

the police to  come and try to quell the disturbance. 

"X" marks the mayehm.

"Beat & Release": When Social Media Phenoms Collide Sparks (and Bullets) Fly, in Ankara

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 17 November 2024)

          Like two supernovas crashing into each other!

Last night at about 8 o'clock social media phenoms Çağlayan

Yıldırım and Cansum Şener (29) met to settle their differences

in the Plevne neighborhood of Ankara's Sincan district. An

argument erupted between the two and Cansum hanım shot

Çağlayan hanım with a revolver in her leg, before fleeing the

scene with her boyfriend. 

You think just anybody can do this job??!!

Çağlayan hanım was taken to a hospital for treatment and 

is said to be in good condition.  In any case, Çağlayan hanım

posted a video of the incident on social media.  As for Cansum

hanım, who has a police record of 80 crimes (!), she and her

boyfriend were arrested in Altındağ district and the revolver

she used in the incident was seized by police. 

Purported Pablo Picasso Masterpiece Seized in Remote Northeastern Anatolia

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 November 2024)

           OMG! Turkish censors asleep at the switch!

In raids conducted by the Gendarmerie in the hinterlands

on Anatolia,  3,250 coins from the Ottoman, East Rome, and 

Byzantine periods were recovered, along with a painting 

claimed to be a Pablo Picasso masterpiece (!). 

In simultaneous Gendarmerie raids in 14 provinces of  east 

and southeast Anatolia, 21 suspects were pursued and taken

into custody - 19 of them were released after giving statements

and the other two were brought before a judge but released

under judicial supervision. 

The raid in Bayburt yielded the  purported Picasso painting, 

which is now being evaluated by experts to determine whether 

it is an authentic product of that great master. The suspects 

sought to sell it for 6 million Euros.

No doubt painted during Picasso's "Bayburt Period".

Driverless Metro Train Bypasses Five Stations, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 16 November 2024)

driverless disasters click to see just how bad it can get.

                              Not the tunnel of love.

A driverless metro train left the Üsküdar station en route to

Samandıra but after passengers disembarked at the Bulgurlu

station the train passed by the Ümraniye, Çarşı, Yamanevler,

Çakmak and İhlamurkuyu stations without stopping (!).

Passengers alarmed by the train missing their stops pressed

the emergency button but to no avail.  Finally, the train came

to a halt near (but not at) the Altınşehir station.  Passengers

found a way to get off the train and walked along the tracks 

in the tunnel (!) to the Altınşehir station.

On one of the videos taken by the stranded passengers, 

someone alerts the others, saying "Hurry up and get off!

There's a train coming from behind!"

Oh yeah, sometimes there's an unscheduled express.

"Eat & Release": When Fishing Season Opens, Thief Trawls Fish Store, in Küçükçekmece

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 November 2024)

                           Hmmm something's fishy...

At the Yılmaz Balıkçı fish store on the shore road of Küçükçekmece

in Istanbul, Uğur Yaşar (32) sells and grills fish.  Last week on Monday 

a thief entered the store with an iron bar, broke open a freezer and made

off with 20 "palamut" ((bonito, short-finned tunny)) worth 150 TL each,

along with stealing some corn flour.  But considering the damage to be

insignificant, Yaşar did not file a police complaint. 

However (!), on 11 November the fish thief returned and staked out

the store at about 1 o'clock in the morning.  When he discerned that

no one was around the thief entered the store and stole some cargo

packages, two pairs of shoes belonging to the fishmongers, five five-

kilogram cans of oil, and 10 kilograms of corn flour.  Before fleeing, 

the thief tried again to get into the fish freezer but failed.  Instead, he 

took a laptop computer and mouse.

In the morning, seeing that he had been victimized again by the thief,

Yaşar went to the police with store security camera footage.  Yaşar

said that he has been running this fish store for 15 years.  He lamented

that "the last time the thief came he took salmon.  Before that he took

sea bass and turbot.  When the fishing season starts he comes regularly

and robs the store like it's his routine.  This time he made a big mess of

the store so I filed a complaint."

"Beat & Release": Three Iranian Brothers' Stock Market Losses Prompted Collective Suicide, in Antalya

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 14 November 2024) 

                              They cashed in their chips.

Three Iranian brothers who came to Antalya some time ago, 

rented a furnished flat in Güzeloba neighborhood of Muratpaşa

district.  When the brothers' family in Iran could not reach

them for 15 days they contacted Iranian Emrullah Esedi in

Antalya.

Esedi went to the brothers' rented flat with the police and

entered with the owner's key, only to find the dead bodies of

Mohammed Reza Yasovalian (44), Mohsen Yasovalian (36) 

and Anmirhossein Yasovalian (33).  Police found a 9-page

note in Farsi relating that the three brothers had lost a large

amount of money playing the stock market and decided to

commit suicide together.  

1929 New York stock market crash precedent...

The doors and windows inside the house had been taped

to prevent air from entering and the smoke from a coal

fire the brothers lit suffocated all of them.