türkçe links to original Turkıish article
(Hürriyet Newspaper, 12 July 2026)
Gökmen bey certainly looks the part.
In Istanbul, Gökmen Uyanık (whose surname means "opportunist")
and his girlfriend Derya Demir went camping a month ago. There, a
man supposedly (!) addicted to paint thinner - a "tinerci" - asked the
couple for money but when rejected he poured a chemical substance
on Derya hanım., who suffered burns to nearly half of her body.
She has been receiving treatment in intensive care for about a month.
However (!), it has emerged that Gökmen Uyanık dressed his nephew
İsa Uyanık as a "tinerci" and had him pour the chemical substance on
his girlfriend, who wanted to break up with him.
Gökmen Uyanık and Derya hanım (44), who had been in a relationship
for about 1.5 years, went to a campsite in Şile Sofular on June 7, 2026,
to have coffee. After spending some time there, a "masked paint thinner
addict" approached them and asked for money. When the couple refused
to give him money, the addict left. After a while, Gökmen Uyanık got up
to get coffee for Derya hanım. Seeing that she was alone, the "addict"
approached her, poured a chemical substance on her, and fled the scene.
Seeing Derya hanım screaming in pain, her boyfriend Gökmen Uyanık
took the injured woman to the hospital in his own car. After receiving
initial treatment at Şile State Hospital, Derya Demir was transferred to
Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital in Kartal and admitted to the intensive
care unit.
"İsa" means "Jesus" (!)
After the incident, Derya hanım's daughter, Sıla Sevde Beşparmak, went
to the Gendarmerie and complained about her mother's boyfriend,
Gökmen Uyanık. Following the complaint, the teams detained Gökmen
Uyanık but then released him.
Nevertheless, in the technical and physical examination carried out on
Gökmen Uyanık's mobile phone by the Şile Chief Public Prosecutor's
Office, his phone calls to a company in Ümraniye to find chemicals and
his intense correspondence with his colleague Arif Özer before and after
the day of the incident drew attention.
Taking action for the operation upon the decision of the prosecutor's office,
the Gendarmerie detained Gökmen Uyanık and 3 more people who were
thought to be connected to the incident. In his statement, Arif Özer
admitted that Gökmen Uyanık was the one who planned the incident,
that he disguised his nephew İsa Uyanık as an addict to throw
chemicals at Derya hanım, and that he brought İsa Uyanık to the scene.
The teams started working on this confession and detained İsa Uyanık
During İsa Uyanık's interrogation by the prosecutor, a scar on his hand
caught the attention of the police. Suspecting foul play, İsa Uyanık was
cross-examined and confessed that the scar was sustained during the
attack on Derya hanım.
Following the completion of police procedures, five suspects were referred
to the courthouse. Gökmen Uyanık, İsa Uyanık, and Arif Özer were
arrested and sent to prison on charges of "attempted murder," while Y.A.
and E.K. were released under judicial supervision. Meanwhile, it was stated
that the investigation to determine the nature of the chemical substance
thrown at Derya hanım is ongoing.
Ouch.
Speaking to Hürriyet about the events, Derya hanım's daughter, Sıla
Sevde Beşparmak, said, "The incident happened at noon, and we received
the news around 11 PM. My mother's close friend, Y.A., informed us.
There are threatening messages from Gökmen Uyanık to my mother. We
suspected Gökmen Uyanık from the very beginning. We filed a
complaint."
She added that her mother had been trying to break up with her boyfriend
Gökmen Uyanık for three months:
“My mother has been in the hospital for a month. She has second and
third-degree burns on 27% of her body. She has had many surgeries, and
the surgical process is still ongoing. The left side of her face is
particularly badly burned. Part of her ear was cut off. My mother had
been in a relationship with this man for 1.5 years. They had been working
together at the same textile company for 5-6 years. My mother had been
trying to break up with him for three months, but she couldn't because of
the threats. The man was disturbingly jealous. He threatened my mother
with us; she wanted to go to the police and file a complaint many times,
but she couldn't. He threatened her saying things like, ‘You can't leave me,
I'll kill you, I'll do this and that to your daughters.’”
"Most likely, my mother had to endure it to protect us. There's also a loan
that Gökmen Uyanık took out on my mother; we don't know the exact
amount. Currently, there's a debt of around 300-400 thousand TL (about
$7-8,000) remaining, which we're paying because it's in my mother's name.
Maybe that's why my mother couldn't leave him; we don't know."
By the way, Gökmen Uyanık is married (!), we just found out. He has three
children. I don't know if my mother knew this. Maybe she tried to leave
him after finding out; that's also a possibility. Since she's in intensive care
right now, we can't talk to her and ask for details.”
